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THE 



EPISTLES OE OVIDIUS NASO, 

FAITHFULLY CONVERTED INTO 



A NEW MEASURE OF ENGLISH VERSE. 



BY JOHN JUMP, 

AUTHOR OP " GBAMMAIRE ANGEAISE A I/USAGE TJE8 PRANCAIS ;" 

: ART I)E IA PERSPECTIVE AU MOXEN D'UNB tCHEELE ;" AND OTHER 

WRITINGS PUBLISHED IN FRANCE. 






LONDON : 
BELL AND DALDY, FLEET STREET. 

1857. 






PRINTED BY 
EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, HER MAJESTY'S PRINTERS. 



96-845545 





CONTENTS. 




Page 


PREFACE 


"> 


i 


Note on English Harmony 


- 


X 


Letter 






I. 


Penelope to Ulysses - 


- 


1 


11. 


Phiilis to Demophoon 


- 


9 


Ill 


Brise'is to Achilles 


- 


18 


IV. 


Phaedra to Hippolytus 


- 


27 


Y. 


CEnone to Paris 


- 


38 


YI. 


Hypsipyle to Jason - 


- 


47 


YII. 


Dido to iEneas 


- 


56 


YIII. 


Hermione to Orestes 


- 


66 


IX. 


Dejanira to Hercules - 


- 


73 


X. 


Ariadne to Theseus - 




83 


XI. 


Canace to Macareus - 


- 


91 


XII. 


Medea to Jason - 


- 


97 


XIII. 


Laodamia to Protesilaus 


- 


109 


X1Y. 


Ilypermnestra to Lynceus 


- 


118 


XY. 


Sappho to Phaon 


- 


123 


XVI. 


Paris to Helen - 


- 


138 


XVII. 


Helen to Paris 


- 


158 


XYIII. 


Leander to Hero - 


- 


171 


XIX. 


Hero to Leander 


- 


182 


XX. 


Acontius to Cydippe - 


- 


193 


XXI. 


Cydippe to Acontius - 


- 


206 






PREFA'CE. 



Travelling by steam, Reader, when you come to 
think of it, was a lively invention ; a rapid pro- 
gress. Gaslight, too, was a bright idea. Phos- 
phoric matches again : if the tablet of your 
memory still retain a trace of the familiar tinder- 
box, phosphoric matches are a positive miracle. 
But the press, as Mrs. de Trepka has just ob- 
served, the page of types-— what a multiplication 
table is that page of types ! what a propagator 
of thought ! what an electric flame to the mental 
eye ! The sixteenth century is not yet outdone 
in the production of wonders. Well ! all these 
things are stupendous in their conception, in- 
credible at their birth, immense in their influence ; 
yet, reader, like everything human, they are not 
without their inconvenience : the medal has its 
reverse. One, let alone divorce of body and 
limbs without mutual consent, whisks you over 
the loveliest landscape before your retina has 
well seized its image, or souses you with geo- 
metrical rectitude through the very centre of a 
big billow instead of riding you neatly over the 
top of it in the old sailing fashion : another blows 
you out of bed or out at window, or sets a burgh 
ablaze before you can whistle "come hither." 
And that German engine, that press, leagued 



11 PREFACE. 

as it is with Hamiltonian systems and ragged! 
schools, and with the cacoethes scribendi to boot ; | 
makes writers so swarm and works so pullulate 
that the life of a reader, shrunk as it has become 
since the reduction of the good old Methuselah 
standard, no longer suffices to skim over the 
tithe of a tithe of the exuberant production. 
Hence the modest excuses which preface every 
author's " new trespass on the attention of an 
" indulgent public." This work, however, claims 
exemption from apology as adding nothing to the 
mountainous mass : as merely changing the form 
of what exists and has existed any time these 
near two thousand years, still young, vigorous, 
beautiful, inimitable, — the charming Epistles of 
Ovidius Naso, Why should the Cantab and the 
Oxonian monopolize a delightful feast? Why 
not you, general reader, be admitted to a table 
so invitingly served? Come in, good friend; 
the baked meats consist of a faithful rescript 
of the prettiest love-letters you ever perused, 
save certain correspondence perhaps which oc- 
curred between yourself and you know who. 
Take them then, not as our friend Lawrence 
says, under your protection, but into your closet, 
and there, if they amuse, your most devoted ser- 
vant will be largely paid. 

There is yet another lurking motive, reader, 
than the introduction of Naso for wheedling into 
your acquaintance : apart, too, of that vulgar 
spring of human activity, that six-and-eightpence 
which some law-grinder sees at the bottom of 



PREFACE. Ill 



every man s act and deed, and whereon the less 
said the sooner mended. The alterum mobile in 
question is to set before you a simple measure 
of English verse which you have not yet seen, 
and which seems peculiarly adapted to epistolary 
poetry. 

Dryden and Pope have proved that our heroic 
rhyme of five feet renders well the Greek and 
Latin hexameter. Our lighter four-foot verse, 
as in Gay's fables, seems apt enough to supply 
the place of the pentameter, which couples so 
beautifully with the longer line. We have abun- 
dant examples of poems in alternate eight and 
six syllables, a very pleasing light measure, but 
I know of no complete stanza founded on a 
shorter line combined with the grave heroic ; and 
yet the effect is agreeable, rendering the verse 
somewhat less severe than the full measure of all 
tens, yet less skipping than the alternate eight 
and six. Let us take a fine example of full-lined 
alternate rhymes, and divide it into its harmonic 
bars by points of suspension. 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; 

The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea ; 

The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 

And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 

Here is a rich model of deep gravity nearly in 
pure iambics. Reading with attention, it will be 
remarked that the solemn tone proceeds chiefly 
from the long bars of six sjdlables. Now let 
it not be deemed profanation to dissect this. 
Fear not the scapel be mad enough to attempt to 
mend that wdrich is perfect already. Its object 



IV PREFACE. 

is merely to try conclusions : to examine the 
effect as to gravity or airiness, of lopping a syl- 
lable here and there ; for instance, or as they say 
for fun, cut off the first and last of the first line : 

Curfew tolls the knell of parting. 

The grave iambic is become a gay trochaic : 
necessarily, for such is the known effect of annul- 
ling the first syllable of an iambic line. But 
this is foreign to the purpose, which, on the con- 
trary, is highly serious. Let each second and 
fourth line then be shortened by two syllables, 
but so as to leave the verse iambic, for to mix 
the two measures would be cacophanous. The 
pauses shall be indicated as before. 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; 

The herds wind slow — ly o'er the lea ; 
The ploughman homeward plods — his weary way, 

And leaves the world to night and me. 

The gravity is sensibly lessened in the diminished 
lines by reducing the long bar of six syllables to 
one of four. Let us try the effect of curtailing 
two syllables more. 

The curfew tolls. . . .the knell of parting day : 

The herds wind o'er the lea ; 
The ploughman homeward plods. . . .his weary way, 

And leaves the world to me. 

Here in the alternate lines the two bars are 
reduced to one, but of the longer measure ; hence 
the stanza has recovered a portion of its original 
gravity, though it has ceased to possess the 
solemnity of the original. Now do just read 
this last once again ; for, barring the effect of 
that hallucination to which inventors are liable, 
it reads more like measured prose, not than 



PREFACE. V 

blank verse does, but than any measure of rhymes 
that you have met with. For this reason it is here 
adopted to render the alternate lines of Ovid. 

Let it be observed that I compare this result 
with the Latin couplet only in as much as it 
renders a serious tone in an alternate measure, 
and not as producing a similar effect. Were the 
two harmonies, the English and the Latin, more 
susceptible of comparison, our two lines, con- 
sisting as they do of three pauses, would be more 
analogous to the longer Latin line alone. Take 
as an example a rough imitation of Meliboeus 
and Tityrus, in the first lines of Virgil's eclogue. 

Meliboeus. Tityre, tu patulae recubans 

Sub tegmine fagi, 
Silvestrem tenui musam 

Meditaris avena. 
Nos patriae fines et dulcia 

Linquimus arva : 
Nos patriam fugimus, tu, Tityre, 

Lentus in umbra, 
Formosam resonare doces 

Aniarillida sylvas. 
Tityrus. O Melibcee, Deus nobis 

HcEC otia fecit. 

Milibceus. O Tityrus, reclined the woods among, 

Cool in their ample shade, 
Your oaten flageolet and rural song 

Still make the charm they made. 
We to our native home must bid adieu 

And its luxuriant fields : 
We fly the land enjoyed in peace by you, 

With all the charm it yields, 
Where, Tityrus, you make the vale resound 

With Amarillis' name. 
Tityrus. A god, O Meliboeus, we have found, 

In goodness as in fame. 

A word before parting, indispensable to fend 
off the critic dart that may fairly enough be 

b 



VI PREFACE. 

aimed at certain spots of imperfect translation. 
Let thy indulgence then, O Aristarchus, reflect 
that the rendering is nearly line for line. Now 
since a line of Latin, at a medium, consists of 
fourteen syllables, and that the English line 
averages but eight, it was impossible to give 
every thought entire. True, four lines might 
have been devoted to two, which would have 
given scope and to spare ; but conscience, 
reader, conscience ! It would have doubled 
this poor increment to the Atlantaean mass of 
British publication which, if you recollect, in- 
spired the writer with awe at the very symptoms 
of his cacoethes ; or, more honestly and between 
ourselves, weak in fiction as he is, that was too 
much tether. He has a horrid fear of ampli- 
fying — it needs wit ; now common sense can 
contract. An amplified translation, too, presents 
the physiognomy rather of the translator than of 
the original. I have a fine example of this 
before my eye at this moment, in the title-page 
of that splendid novel Ten Thousand a Yeae. 
It is the following eight lines of Horace, with 
their translation by Dryden. Bead : 

Fortmia seevo Iseta negotio, ct 
Lusum insolentem ludere pertinax 
Transmutat incertos lionores, 
Nunc milii nunc alii benigna. 
Laudo manentem. Si celeres quatit 
Pennas, resigno qua) dedit et mea 
Virtute me involve-, probamque 
Paupeviem sine dote quaero. 

It would be a pity, reader, if you did not 
understand this ; in that case, do get some- 



PREFACE. Vll 

body to translate it for you : or stay, who is 
your more devoted servant than myself ? I '11 do 
it for you verbatim. 

Fortune, merry in cruel business and 
persistent in playing an unexpected game, 
transmutes uncertain honours ; 
now kind to mc— now to another. 
T laud her while she stays ; but if she shake 
her rapid wings, I resign what she gave, 
wrap myself in my virtue, and, undowered, 
seek an honourable poverty. 

The last three lines aptly portray the noble 
Aubrey after the loss of his ten thousand a year, 
and in the Latin beautifully. Dryden's trans- 
lation runs thus : 

Fortune, that with malicious joy 

Does man, her slave, oppress, 
Proud of her office to destroy, 

Is seldom pleased to bless. 
Still various and unconstant still, 
But with an inclination to be ill, 
Provokes, degrades, delights in strife, 
And makes a lottery of life. 
I can enjoy her while she 's kind, 
But when she dances in the wind, 
And shakes her wings and will not stay, 
I puff the prostitute away : 
The little or the much she gave is quietly resigned : 
Content with poverty my soul I arm, 
And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. 

It must be borne in mind that Dryden 
figures here by the merest accident. This bit, 
too, we verily believe to be the worst he ever 
wrote ; but as his well-earned fame stands 
on a mountain rock, it will not feel the shift- 
ing of a poor pebble that may be shaken by 
any criticism here. Moreover, Dryden is in 
presence merely as a sort of Richard Roe, in 
the cause hereby instituted, versus the unin- 
corporate body of free translators, whom I would 
rather call, as in fact they are sometimes called, 

b 2 



VI PREFACE. 

aimed at certain spots of imperfect translation. 
Let thy indulgence then, O Aristarchus, reflect 
that the rendering is nearly line for line. Now 
since a line of Latin, at a medium, consists of 
fourteen syllables, and that the English line 
averages but eight, it was impossible to give 
every thought entire. True, four lines might 
have been devoted to two, which would have 
given scope and to spare ; but conscience, 
reader, conscience ! It would have doubled 
this poor increment to the Atlanteean mass of 
British publication which, if you recollect, in- 
spired the writer with awe at the very symptoms 
of his cacoethes ; or, more honestly and between 
ourselves, weak in fiction as he is, that was too 
much tether. He has a horrid fear of ampli- 
fying—it needs wit ; now common sense can 
contract. An amplified translation, too, presents 
the physiognomy rather of the translator than of 
the original. I have a fine example of this 
before my eye at this moment, in the title-page 
of that splendid novel Ten Thousand a Year. 
It is the following eight lines of Horace, with 
their translation by Dryden. Head : 

Portuna ssevo Leta negotio, ct 
Jjiisum insolentem ludere pertinax 
Transmutat incertos lionores, 
Nunc mini nunc alii benigna. 
Laudo manentem. Si celeres quatit 
Pennas, resigno qua) dedit et mea 
Virtute me involve-, probamque 
Pauperiem sine dote qusero. 

It would be a pity, reader, if you did not 
understand this ; in that case, do get some- 



PREFACE. Vll 

body to translate it for you: or stay, who is 
your more devoted servant than myself ? I '11 do 
it for you verbatim. 

Fortune, merry in cruel business and 
persistent in playing an unexpected game, 
transmutes uncertain honours ; 
now kind to me— now to another. 
I laud her while she stays ; but if she shake 
her rapid wings, I resign what she gave, 
wrap myself in my virtue, and, undowered, 
seek an honourable poverty. 

The last three lines aptly portray the noble 
Aubrey after the loss of his ten thousand a year, 
and in the Latin beautifully. Dryden s trans- 
lation runs thus : 

Fortune, that with malicious joy 

Does man, her slave, oppress, 
Proud of her office to destroy, 

Is seldom pleased to bless. 
Still various and unconstant still, 
But with an inclination to be ill, 
Provokes, degrades, delights in strife, 
And makes a lottery of life. 
I can enjoy her while she 's kind, 
But when she dances in the wind, 
And shakes her wings and will not stay, 
I puff the prostitute away : 
The little or the much she gave is quietly resigned : 
Content with poverty my soul I arm, 
And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. 

It must be borne in mind that Dryden 
figures here by the merest accident. This bit, 
too, we verily believe to be the worst he ever 
wrote ; but as his well-earned fame stands 
on a mountain rock, it will not feel the shift- 
ing of a poor pebble that may be shaken by 
any criticism here. Moreover, Dryden is in 
presence merely as a sort of Richard Roe, in 
the cause hereby instituted, versus the unin- 
corporate body of free translators, whom I would 
rather call, as in fact they are sometimes called, 

b 2 



Vlll PREFACE. 

loose translators, a class which is to the highest 
degree imposing, both in number and in name. 
Their president is the great Voltaire himself, 
who lays down their principle, saying, " Read 
well your author, and then write him in your 
own way." In my humble opinion this is 
writing yourself by means of your author's 
ideas. Could you ever, reader, perceive even a 
glimpse of Shakspeare in the Shakspeare of 
Ducis, and so of many others that I could name ? 
No : the author exists in his thoughts ; to these 
the surest way are his words, and the nearer 
these can be rendered the better you will exhibit 
him. In any other way you will only exhibit 
yourself. Look at those sixteen lines of Dryden. 
Does their ambling loquacity give you the most 
distant idea of the subdued eight lines of Horace ? 
Certainly not. They are as much like them as I 
an air balloon is to a cricket ball, one all wind, 
the other hard pith. It is much to be doubtedl 
whether the six last of them would have tempted [ 
the author of " Ten Thousand a Year " had he| 
never seen the Latin. 

Creech, in my opinion, hits it off far better, 
because more literally, thus : 

Still fortune plays at fast and loose, 

And still maliciously jocose 

Her cruel sport she urges on, 

Now smiles on me ; on me bestows, 

And then upon another throws 

Vast heaps of wealth, and takes them back as soon. 

Whene'er she stays with what she brings 

I'm pleased ; but when she shakes her wings 

I straight resign my just pretence, 

I give her back her faded gold ; 

Myself I in my virtue fold, 

And live content with want and innocence. 



PREFACE. ix 

This is pretty faithful translation. If it 
contain four lines more than the Latin, it is to 
make out rhymes. It adds but few new ideas 
to the original. The expansion, however, of 
these four lines entirely destroys that pithiness 
for which the Latin poet is so remarkable. A 
still closer rendering would assuredly be better. 
Let us try to versify as closely as possible the bit 
of prose you read above : 

Fortune iu cruel business gay, 
And prone a saucy game to play, 
Her fickle honours will transmute ; 
Now mine, now Paul's, the attribute. 
I laud her present ; but if once 

She flit, I let her fly, 
And in a virtuous pride ensconce 

My honest poverty. 

Here is no more than in the Latin : I will not 
pretend to say there is no less. It slurs a little 
the fifth line and the end of the fourth, but the 
thoughts are there ; and it is better to lose some- 
thing, than by the help of spurious matter to 
retain the whole. See too, reader, whether the 
compressed form have not restored something of 
the gravity of the original. 

My predilection, then, is decidedly for close 
translation ; and aware that in a long work, 
compressed even far beyond the limits of the 
Latin, this principle may have induced in sundry 
places an excess of brevity, care has been taken 
wherever this occurs to add a note, giving the 
full sense. 

In nearly half the letters, as in the third for 
instance, the number of lines in the Latin would 
not complete stanzas of four lines each : in that 



X PREFACE. 

case, in some convenient part of the letter two 
lines are expanded into four, or six into eight, to 
complete the scale. Wherever this occurs it is 
indicated by a note. The learned reader need 
not in general trouble himself with the notes, 
they will tell him no more than he knows 
already ; but those who are unacquainted with 
the preux chevaliers of Greece and Troy may, 
in the perusal, pick up a good deal of their more 
than half fabulous history. The elucidations, in 
fine, are given for that class of readers, and to 
gain the good will of my fair countrywomen. 

Paris. J. J. 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. 



It is wrong, reader, very wrong, to entice you a 
step farther into prose composition Having artfully 
led you to burn with impatient curiosity to open 
these love-letters, 'tis a vilely-played card to baulk 
the appetite by delaying the feast ; but your servant is 
sadly infirm of purpose, and, mounted on his hobby, 
a mere Gilpin, he cannot draw up at Islington, but 
you may stop. You may order a Penelope and 
Ulysses to be served up immediately, Didst see the 
grand Hyde Park exhibition ? No doubt you did, 
and the grand Parisian exposition too. What works ! 
what inventions, eh ! what fecundity in the mind of 
man ! Yon preface opened in ecstasy on invention, 
yet let me tellyou some merit is due to the negative 
inventor — to the exposer of bad novelties, and still 
more to the exploder of old errors. Now there exists 
an old, firm-set, erroneous idea in my line of business, 
and I have a mind to set up reformer, even in a 
debut : gard la riposte. But where honour calls the 
good soldier will on, and I must try, feeble as be 
my means, to root up a false notion which subsists 
about English verse. 

The illustrious statesman, Sheridan, who has 
written very largely on the English language, expresses 
his opinion that our favoured tongue possesses mines 
of wealth as yet undiscovered by poets. This opinion 
has taken root and thrives luxuriantly. It is thus 
cited and commented by Perry, at the close of the 
grammar article, in his most valuable pronouncing 
dictionary. The parentheses contain notes by the 
way. 



Xll NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY, 

" Mr. Sheridan says that when the art of reading 
" with propriety shall have been established, and 
a produced its effects, a field will be opened to our 
" writers both in poetry and prose which will dis- 
" play in a new light the vast compass of our 
" language in point of harmony and expression, from 
" the same causes that produced similar effects at 
" Rome in the writers of the Ciceronian or Augustan 
" age." (Now Perry continues, speaking for himself.) 

" That our language is capable of great improve- 
" ment with respect to prosody is apparent, for by 
" inspection into English verse we shall find that 
" syllables which are naturally long and emphatical 
" are frequently made short, and those which are 
" short substituted for long syllables." (The italics 
are his own.) 

" By this indiscriminate use of accent and long 
" quantity^ allowing strength to supply the place of 
" length, the harmony of verse is marred. If our 
" lexicographers and poets " (that is, Ego et Rex mens) 
" were universally to adopt a plurality of accent, and 
" make a proper distinction between long and short 
" syllables, as the Greeks did, by the right applica- 
" tion of the grave and acute accent, it would tend 
" to free our verse from this glaring absurdity." 

Were this a solitary critique, I would simply 
answer, " Profaner, read Milton ! " but so far from 
being alone, he stands here the resumer of a greater 
man's opinion, supported by the whole phalanx of 
British prosodists, and must not be treated lightly. 
The great orator, in the passage quoted, does not 
very definitely lay down his views. He seems to 
have a mental perception of some Eldorado to be 
arrived at in time to come. We shall perhaps see 
whether, like its prototype, it turn out to be a bubble. 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. Xlll 

Perry specifies his complaint more clearly, and there- 
fore discussion shall be with him. We '11 talk the 
matter over quietly together. 

Tell me then, my good Perry, what is a Latin 
gradus ? It is a lexicon to show the longs and the 
shorts of the Latin tongue. — And the accent, Perry ? 
The gradus gives no accent. — Why not, pray ? The 
Latins disregarded accent in the construction of their 
verse. — The Latins were right, my dear fellow, for 
having adopted one scale of appreciation, it would 
have been absurd to refer to another. See to what 
confusion it would lead : amo, amas y a?nat, which 
are iambi by quantity in all Latin verse, would 
have become trochees by accent : poor Virgil would 
have been at his wit's end to know what to do 
with them. No : to all appreciable qualities one 
means of appreciation is enough. One basis for one 
simple calculation is the rule : cloth by the yard, corn 
by the bushel, cheese by the pound ; and, though there 
be masses susceptible of estimation in more than one 
of these ways, yet none who know how to expedite 
business have recourse to both pottle and pound to esti- 
mate the same lot. But your English gradus s Perry ? 
I never saw one : the only help to English verse is 
the rhyming dictionary, which gives no quantity ; for 
our poets are so dreadfully irregular in their use of 
iongs and shorts, that from their works, which are 
our only means, we have never been able to determine 
a tenth part of the syllables as to whether they are 
short or long. — And the accent, my good Perry ? Oh, 
the accent, w r e mark that in every word ; it peers 
out ; it is sensible to feeling through all their lines. 
See my dictionary. — And it never struck you, my 
honest prosodian, that this w r as enough ? That though 

b 5 



XIV NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY, 

Latin and Greek be doled by length of syllable, 
English might be estimated by weight of accent, and 
so much the more reasonably, since this is in the 
feeling of us all, and the other baffles even your own 
profound research ; but, on the contrary, with Shak- 
speare, Milton, and the whole host dinning accent in 
your ear, you must go gaping after new lights that are 
one day to shine and cause the harmony of verse to be 
no longer marred, and English verse to be freed from 
its glaring absurdities. Why these two expressions 
are downright sacrilege, for they level at the works 
of demigods. 

Consider that in every nation the first poet pos- 
sessed the whole principle of the art. It was an 
instinct as sure as that of the spider which makes its 
web. Successors may refine, as Sheridan says^ Virgil 
and Horace did in the Augustan age of Rome, but in 
no nation of the world have they ever changed the 
principle of the earlier masters of the art, founded, as 
I say it was, not on lexicons but on that instinct of 
their species which is innate and infallible. 

No, my good Perry, you have nothing to do with 
what Milton ought to have done ; that is above 
your sphere. Consider well what he has done, and 
since you find in his lines an inextricable chaos of 
longs and shorts, take your scales : weigh them by 
accent, and you will find in them all a beautifully 
harmonious order. 

Nay, your double principle can lead to nothing but 
confusion, as we have shown it would have done in 
the Latin. Take the words able, evil, image, all 
trochees by the ear, which is necessity, and by the 
authority of all English verse : apply to them the 
principle of length they become iambi, the very oppo-? 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. XV 

site in rhythmic effect, which is absurd. Observe 
that in a Latin dissyllable you now and then find one 
of the two doubtful ; but you never found both syl- 
lables doubtful : you never saw the same word iambus 
and trochee : 'tis an incongruity. No, no, your double 
system creates for your British poet the same dilemma 
we supposed to Virgil just now : he sings, Hoiv happy 
could I be with either ivere t'other dear charmer away ; 
and one of them, Perry, must go away, for no poet's ear 
w r ill ever take those words for any thing but trochees, 
as they are by accent and by usage, which is immu- 
table necessity : hence, English verse has no concern 
with quantity in length. 

Then, say you, what is the function of longs and 
shorts in our poetry ? They serve in verse as in 
prose to give a solemn gravity or a tripping lightness 
to the flow of language ; to make harmony and pathos ; 
but they have nothing to do with the metrical con- 
struction of the verse. So in Greek and Latin the 
tonic accent served to undulate the style, but was un- 
connected with the metre ; and that for the reason 
above assigned : because one principle of measure is 
enough and two are absurd. 

I have heard tell of a printed attempt at English 
verse in Roman metre of dactyl and spondee by 
time. It is said to be unsuccessful, and no wonder. 
Our ear is drilled to accent, and follows only where 
accent leads. Substitute in its place the basis of 
time, we are lost : as bewildered as Highlanders 
without their bagpipes. We liken your time hexa- 
meters to prose bewitched. 

This error of taking a double manner of scanning 
for two distinct sources of metre has given rise to a 
false notion of the compass of our language as a 



XVI NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. 

vehicle for poetry. In truth, had we double means 
we should have a triple effect, for there would imme- 
diately result three distinct classes of poetry ; namely, 
by accent as produced by the whole suite of benighted 
jinglers from Chaucer to Byron : by time, as in the 
virtuous though unsuccessful attempt just alluded to, 
and by the transcendent effect of the two combined, 
as sighed after by the Doubletonians ; but the dual 
means are a mere dream, we have them net. Perry 
himself has declared that one of the two sources is not 
yet understood : our poets amply prove that it is not 
wanted : common sense rejects it as absurd ; and, being 
a mere creation of the prosodial brain, it may safely 
be pronounced never-to-be-understood. Hence again, 
English poetry has nothing to do with measure in 
length. 

It is grievous to inflict the slightest scratch on 
national vanity, but it follows, as a corollary, from 
what has been said, that there is no ground what- 
ever for attributing to the English language any 
supereminence with regard to poetic means. Had 
mistaken writers done no other harm than that of 
authorizing an ungrounded boast, the consolation 
were easy, on reflecting that the praise of our poets, 
for having taken so glorious a stand as they have done 
in the literature of nations, is by so much the greater 
as their means were less. But the flattering of undue 
self-love is not the only mischief done : our honest, 
legitimate national pride falls in with a rude rebuff. 
You may read in the works of foreign philologists, 
that the English language has no prosody ; no means 
of estimating an English verse. Now these foreign 
writers, before making this remark, had read our 
prosodies. This seems droll, reader ; it makes one 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. XV11 

feel all I don't know how. Are our prosodies no 
prosodies ? What if it should be true ? To have 
but one way of measuring our merchandise was no 
great evil, since one way is enough, but to have no 
way at all ! Why 'tis to be dullards, oafs, bereft of 
all bump of appreciation of values. Let us look into 
it. Send at once for the favourite author. Here 
he is. " Prosody : dissyllables, trisyllables, poly- 
syllables. ,, And where are his monosyllables ? Not 
a word about them. Can it be that an English 
prosody shall not treat of monosyllables, the first 
distinctive feature of our verse ? 

" To die ;— to sleep ; — 
No more ;— and by a sleep to say we end 
The heart-ache." 

Here is a verse and a half ; six iambi and a 
pyrrhic, composed exclusively of monosyllables, and 
the writer has not a word to say on the subject ? 
This argues ill. Let us look farther on. Ha ! by 
his wind up, he seems to have satisfied himself at 
least. Read : " From the preceding view of English 
" versification we may see what a copious stock of 
" materials it possesses, for we are not only allowed 
'* the use of the ancient poetic feet in our heroic 
" measure, but we have duplicates of each, agreeing 
" in movement though differing in measure, and 
" which make different impressions on the ear; 
" an opulence peculiar to our language, and which 
" is a source of boundless variety." Perryism, 
reader, pure Sheridanoperryism. Doubletonism. The 
disease has infected them all. He sees double : 
double riches because he has two ways of counting 
his bags. However, from such copious stock of mate- 
rials I count that we shall at least find the means of 
constructing the heroic verse alluded to. Let us 
turn to it. 



XV111 NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. 

" The fifth species of English iambics consists of 
" five iambuses. Examples : 

" How loved, how valued once avails thee not, 

" To whom related, or by whom forgot. 

" A heap of dust alone remains of thee, 

" 'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be" 

" Be wise to-day, 'tis madness to defer. 

" Next day, the fatal precedent shall plead ; 

" Thus on till wisdom is pushed out of life." 

What have we here? I see but one pure iambic 
in the whole group, and that is the third. The first 
has two spondees at the beginning and one at the 
end. The second has a pyrrhic for the third foot. 
The fourth is like the first. The fifth and sixth have 
their fourth feet pyrrhics. The last has two spondees, 
a pyrrhic, and its fourth foot a trochee. This augurs 
ill. Let us read the next article, which winds up 
the subject of the heroic line : " This is called the 
" heroic line. In its simplest form it consists of 
€i five iambuses, but by the admission of other feet 
" as trochees, dactyls, anapests, &c, it is capable of 
" many varieties." Many indeed ! why, it has no 
restriction ! It is licence unlimited, capable of hun- 
dreds of varieties. But which among them make 
good verse, and which bad ? That et ccetera is 
exquisite : it equals the et ccetera of Butler's round- 
heads, who swore et cceteras. And this is all ? This 
all ? upon the English epic line ? the nerve and bone 
of our higher poetry ? " It consists, without the 
shadow of restraint, of sundry feet, fyc" Only tack 
ten syllables together and your verse is made, for no 
possible combination of them will refuse to divide 
into five feet of some kind. Now the fact is palpable, 
that we have good verses and bad ; and it has become 
equally clear that we have no means of distinguishing 
between them. Not only this augurs ill, reader, 'tis 
a complete nonsuit. We are beaten men : men con-* 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. XIX 

strained to submit and confess that the English 
language has no prosody. These profound teachers 
have got so bewildered in running after the ignis 
fatuus of double scanning, that they have lost sight 
of the very object of the science on which they were 
writing, namely, to arrive at the art of making a 
verse. Let me tell you an old fable just to change 
the subject, for really this grows dolorous : — 

Grasp all, lose all. Witness a dog, 

Who, swimming glibly o'er a tide, 
Bore in his jowl a piece of mutton prog, 

To bolt it quietly on the other side. 
Seeing his image in the stream, he thought 
Another dog a fatter prize had caught, 
And snapping at it let the solid go, 
The image of the mutton vanished too. 

Dost see, reader ? JEsop's meaning is as clear as 
day ; the dog is Sheridanoperryism, the prog is 
English verse, the shadow is the double measuring 
system, and the lost mutton, I 'm afraid, is our prosody. 
But let not thy good heart be dismayed. The English 
language is perhaps not so utterly destitute of proso- 
dial rules as at this moment it appears. Dryden, 
Milton, Byron, all the men of the trade had their 
prosodies. 'Tis true the curmudgeons have kept it to 
themselves, and hence the opinion above noted of 
foreign critics who had dipped only into such printed 
nonsense as we have just read. But their prosody 
may be ferreted out. Two bits of Shakspeare and 
Milton, our two great models, have given me an 
inkling of their plan. I have picked up a few indica- 
tions which might serve some handy fellow of the 
craft to make a prosody. I'll show them to you ; if 
you are in that line and would set to work with new, 
solid, and homogeneous materials it might make you 
a name ; you would be the man who served his 
country at her need, made her rich where she was 



XX NOTE ON ENGLISH HAEMONY. 

poor, and raised her to the rank of a nation not only 
poetical but scientific in the art of poetry. 

Your plan would be this : first simplify the number 
of feet employed ; reject those of three syllables, since 
two of them necessarily make three feet of two 
syllables, and, if there be but one, contraction in- 
variably reduces it to a foot of two syllables. Thus 
the number of feet to be considered is limited to 
four, — 

The iambus, which is the measure of regular 

motion, the basis of the harmony, and which 

occurs four to one oftener than any other foot ; 

The spondee, which is semi-iambic and retard - 

ative ; 
The pyrrhic, which" is semi-iambic and "accele- 

rative ; 
The trochee, which is anti-iambic and variative. 
As a general rule you may use these in any way 
you like, provided you do not change the metre, that 
is, make it become trochaic, or dactylic, or an apes tic. 
Now spondees and pyrrhics have not that effect, and, 
therefore, are freely admitted to any foot of the line. 

My observations then reduce themselves to the 
following expression in the form of a rule. I use 
the words long and short, they are familiar to the ear, 
but they are intended of course to imply accented and 
unaccented. 

The spondee and the pyrrhic may occupy any place 
in the line. The trochee stands loell on the first foot ; 
it enters the third and fourth, but cannot folloio a short 
syllable ; consequently tivo trochees cannot stand 
together. The trochee is excluded from the second 
foot and the fifth* 

Let me resume this a little, adding examples and 
observations. One of these will show a case admit- 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. XXI 

ting a trochee on the second foot ; another which 
imposes a certain restriction on the spondee and the 
pyrrhic. First run over a few examples of pure 
iambics for the sake of comparison : — 

The balmy call of incense-breathing morn. 
A heap of dust alone remains of thee. 
In these, thy lowest works ; yet these declare . . 
The fairest she of all the maids of Troy. 

You will observe in these a step of two by two. 
Spondees in any number make no change in this dual 
movement. The gravity of Milton's style will some- 
times assemble three spondees in a line, as in the 
following : 



Him first, him last, him midst and without end. 
Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul. 

The pyrrhic most frequently unites either with the 
preceding or following foot, forming with it a glided 
movement of four. One pyrrhic in a line occurs 
oftener than two : three are very rare, yet they do 
occur, and with good effect, if one be at each end of 
the line and the third in the middle. Examples : 

He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber, 

To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. 

It was for Malcolm and for Donaldbain. 

Two pyrrhics continuous require a pause between 
them. 

Twice I demanded it, but was refused. 

Without a pause the line becomes too hurried. 

The sentence was not of my signing, but . . . 

This reads much more like prose than verse. 

A spondee between two pyrrhics at the head of a 
line makes triplet measure, to break which the line 
must end with iambi. This is the restriction as to 
spondees and pyrrhics alluded to in our rule. By 



XXli NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. 

neglect of this restriction the following lines are 
triplet to the end. 

Is it your pleasure to sign the report ? 

If he dies innocent, that is to say. 

Iambi, in the places of the two trochees, sign the 
and that is, will restore the metre. 

Is it your pleasure to peruse the deed ? 
If he dies innocent, be pleased to say. 

The trochee is prettiest with a pure iambus after it. 
Happy the man. The two form a movement of four. 
The double foot is called choriambus, a measure of 
remarkable beauty. Those very words of our example 
suggested themselves to Pope as firstlings of his poetic 
pen. What an instinct, eh ! You recollect, Happy 
the man whose wish and care, &c. 

The following examples open with one choriambus, 
four gliding syllables, the rest two by two ; — 

Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walk. 
Into this breathing world scarce half made up. 

The following have two choriambi contiguous ; two 
glidings of four :— 

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths. 
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night. 

This has two choriambi separated : 

These are Thy glorious works, Parent of good. 

Both these last forms are equally beautiful, with a 
pyrrhic in place of the second trochee : 

Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow. 
Now is the winter of our discontent. 

The pyrrhic ter o/'has given to the second example 
a triplet beginning. If the beautiful choriambus were 
brought in at the end, it would ruin the verse, by 
setting a trochee after a short syllable, and making the 
measure all triplet, thus : — 

Now is the winter of turbulent times. 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. XX111 

A line may begin with two anapests. This case, 
in which the first of the two anapests is often impure, 
makes the exception reserved to our rule : it admits 
a trochee on the second foot. 

With his guilt unavowed he'll die lamented. 

The hot gales of the horrid Cyclades. 

Dive, thoughts, down to my soul : here Clarence comes. 

Here again, as before, the choriambus is excluded 
from the end of the line. 

Let them meet when they will, I shall he found. . . . 

The trochee, i" shall, composing the choriambus 
makes the line triplet throughout. Establish the 
iambus, or at least a pyrrhic or spondee, and you 
recover it. 

Let them meet when they will, and me they'll find. 

These triplet openings apart, a trochee in the second 
place is bad. 

Ah ! the devil come to insult the dead ! Avaunt ! 

A vigorous line this, but the interjection ah I is too 
much for the metre. It throws an inadmissible 
trochee into the second foot, and makes the whole 
line trochaic. Efface the interjection, the trochee 
vanishes ; the line becomes pure iambic. The fol- 
lowing is triplet : 

Like the faint exquisite music of a dream. 

This comes from the trochee music after a short 
syllable. Introduce an iambus in its place, and you 
restore the measure : 

Like the faint exquisite harmonious dream. 

Take, as a wind up, a curious example : 

Thirty-two years of nearly ceaseless warfare 
With the Turk and the powers of Italy. 

Each of these lines apart is a good line. Together 
they are absolutely prose. Why so ? Because they 
are mutually discordant. The harmony of the first, 



XXIV NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. 

nearly pure iambic, is neutralized by that of the 
second, which is triplet from end to end. 

These, reader, are the few materials I have been 
able to collect from the two thorough workmen, John 
Milton and William Shakspeare. I most cordially 
greet a flattering unction that arises out of this mass 
of examples, namely, that if our poetry has not a bow 
with two strings, it has a most elastic bow with one 
string. It bends to a great variety of effects, and 
this is arithmetical : the Latin heroic was established 
on two feet ; ours varies on four. The inference is 
obvious. The foregoing examples, too, have deve- 
loped in our heroic line three very distinct melodies : 
the dual as in the iambic and spondaic line ; the 
ternary as in the opening of two dactyls ; and the 
quaternary as in the choriambic line ; all different, all 
beautiful : and this, for aught I know to the contrary, 
may be a trait peculiar to our language. With this 
comfortable reflection, let us wind up the subject. 

I do not presume to assign the place of our English 
in the file of lyric languages. If we have some advan- 
tage in vigour of expression and in variety of tone, 
the Greek, the Latin, and the Italian surpass us in 
melody. The French, who both in variety and in 
force are below us in poetry of the higher order, 
excel us far in lighter composition, in the madrigal, 
the romance, the chansonnette. Pre-eminence and 
even origin in these is delightfully asserted by the 
noble and most tasteful author of " Moise." 

Mais n'oublions pas, s'il vous plait, 

Le couplet. 
Car c'est en France, 

Assure-t-on, 
Car c'est en France 

Que la chanson 
Et la romance 

Ont pris naissance, 
Pour etre cheres aux amours 

Toujours, toujours. 



NOTE ON ENGLISH HARMONY. XXV 

One may risk attempting this in English, though 
generally these little bits of naivete are inimitable. 
I never could touch a song of Beranger's. 

But please to remember, I pray, 

The couplet. 
Tor it was in Prance 

They say, 
For it was in Prance 

The lay 
And the tender romance 

Saw day, 
Prom the loves ne'er to sever, 

No, never ! no, never ! 

French verse is a metrical phenomenon. It is 
grounded neither on time nor accent. Any six 
syllables, the last not mute, make an hemistich. 
Deprived of rhyme it ceases not to be harmony. 
Yet the poets of that nation reject blank verse, pro- 
bably from the too great facility of composing it, or 
perhaps because their heroic verse is Alexandrine, 
which measure even in English seems unfit for blank 
verse. Mere rhyme even is not deemed enough, but 
the masculine and the feminine couplet must regularly 
succeed each other. It is sensible too that the mute 
e of the feminine termination is a pleasing relief to 
the ear. That mute e, which nevertheless is slightly 
pronounced, a trait peculiar to the French language, 
is the characteristic feature of French poetry. 

To our English verse rhyme is not essential. 
Shelley has proved that it may be dispensed with in 
all measures from two feet to five. Nevertheless it is 
agreeable in all measures, which seems to imply less 
of harmony in our mere metre than in that of the 
Greeks and Latins. 

Rhyme, I say, is agreeable in all measures, and, 
excepting the drama, is admissible into poetry of the 
highest order, but nil nimis : it is a question in my 
mind whether the triple and quadruple recurrence of 



XXVI NOTE ON ENGLISH HAEMONY. 

the same rhyme, as in the Spenserian stanza, be not 
rather a fatigue than a delight to the ear. Dryden, 
Pope, and their contemporaries, seem to have been of 
the same opinion. Byron and Shelley thought other- 
wise. Let critics decide, for that is their proper 
function. 



OVID'S EPISTLES. 



OVID'S EPISTLES. 



LETTER I. 
PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 

Argument. 

A war being undertaken against Troy by the united powers of Greece 
on account of the injury done to Menelaiis, king of Sparta, by the Trojan 
prince Paris, who had eloped with fair Helen his wife, and a general 
summons of all Greece being made, Ulysses, though unwilling, as fore- 
seeing many heavy misfortunes, was obliged to join the union. In the 
expedition he effected so many great deeds, both by his tactics, wisdom, 
and prowess, that the final success of the war was much attributable to 
his means. Vengeance being taken and Troy completely overthrown, 
the victorious Greeks, returning to their country loaded with spoils, 
were harassed by successive tempests, so that a great part of them 
perished; the rest, after long and various sufferings, reached their homes. 
These misfortunes arose from the vengeance of Minerva, on account of 
violence done to her famous statue, called the Palladium, brought to 
Troy by miracle in the days of Ilus, and deemed a gage of safety to the 
city. The statue was obtained and carried off by Ulysses and Diomed, 
and is said to have flashed fire from its eyes on fteing removed. Ulysses 
on his voyage home being driven by adverse winds into various coun- 
tries, and through various chances, did not reach his Ithaca till after ten 
years from the taking of Troy, which had endured the siege ten years. 
His queen, Penelope, importuned by numerous suitors, on the plea that 
Ulysses must be dead, since all the other chieftains were either returned 
or known to be drowned, undertook large works of embroidery, pro- 
mising to consider their suit when her work should be completed ; but 
she took care to prolong the task by undoing at night the greater part of 
what she did in the day. She addresses this letter to her husband, 
though ignorant of where he may be, pressing his return, alleging that 
Troy is vanquished, that the rest who survive are all home, and that 
there can be no reason for him alone remaining absent. 



Ulysses ! thy Penelope again 

Implores thee hasten home. 
Troy is now fallen ; our maids of Greece complain, 

Too dearly overcome. 

1. Ulysses, son of Laertes, was king of two Greek islands, Ithaca and 
Dulychium. He was esteemed the deepest politician and strategist of 



2 PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 

% 

Would the seducer, ere to Sparta led, 

Had perished in the sea ! 
No sorrow here would fret in lonely bed 

At days gone wearily ; 

3. 

No needle toil the tedious night half through, 

Till hands and eyelids fail ; 
No pallid fear raise dangers worse than true : 

Torment is Love's entail. 

4. 
My fancy saw thee hemm'd with Dardan band, 

The name of Hector said : 
Trembling for thee if to his ireful hand 

Antilochus lay dead. 

5. 

Or did Patroclus, like Achilles armed, 

Meet fate amid success ; 
Or had the Rhodian's blood their javelin warmed, 

For thee uneasiness. 



all Greece, and stood among the first of her warriors. Penelope was a 
Lacedemonian, daughter of Icarius. She is the great Greek model of 
the good and faithful wife. 

Troy, or Troja, was before the war the greatest city of Asia Minor, and 
the capital of Troas, so called from its second king, Tros. 

2. The seducer Paris, who by seducing Helen had given rise to the 
war, as we have seen in the Argument. 

4. Hector, the bravest of all the Trojans and son of the king, Priam. 
Antilochus, son of Nestor, king of Pj'los. It appears, however, that 

Penelope is in error in attributing his death to Hector, it being due, 
according to history, to the hand of Memnon. Nothing, however, is 
more natural than that a stranger should be in possession of imperfect 
intelligence. 

5. Or did Patroclus, like Achilles armed. Patroclus was the bosom 
friend of Achilles, the most valiant of all the Greeks, as Hector was the 
great model of all the Trojans. (See, On Achilles, Letter III.) The Greek 
hero having withdrawn from the war in dudgeon, offended by Agamem- 
non, the affairs of the allied forces suffered sad reverse. Patroclus then, 
in order to re-animate the troops, borrowed the armour of Achilles, 
represented his person, and in battle met his death by the hand of 
Hector. 

The Rtvodian. Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules and Astyoche, bora 
at Argos, but called the Rhodian because he became king of Rhodes, 
after having fled thither to avoid the consequences of an accidental 
homicide. He fell by the hand of Sarpedon. 



PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 

6. 

In fine, my loving heart with cold would thrill, 

Whoe'er of Grecian fell : 
But our chaste love the gods protected still — 

Troy falls ; my husband's well. 

7. 

The Grecian chiefs are home ; the altars burn ; 

To th' gods their quota paid : 
Our women offering for their lords' return, 

Sing Ilion level laid. 

8. 

The good old men and timid virgins gaze, 
And wives while husbands tell. 

One on the board with drops of wine portrays 
The town and citadel : 



9. 

The Simo'is here, there the Sigsean land ; 

Here Priam's vast abode : 
This was Achilles', this Ulysses' stand ; 

There tearing Hector rode. 

7. To the gods their quota paid, all due offerings to the gods having 
been made in the temples. 

Sing Ilion level laid. In the Latin it is the husbands who sing. The 
change, to accommodate the verse, is of slight importance. 

8. JVJiile husbands tell. While the husband relates the history of the 
war. 

9. The Simo'is. A river of Troas falling into the Scamander. 
Sigceum. A promontory near Troy on which many battles were fought. 
Here tearing Hector rode. This passage, Hie lacer terruit Hector 

equos, is ambiguous, the word lacer admitting either an active or a 
passive signification (tearing or torn), which present two very opposite 
pictures : the one shows Hector alive in all his martial rage ; the other, 
Hector dead and dragged after the victor's car. To render this sense we 
may say, Tins the dragged Hector's road. It must be admitted 
that the greater number of commentators adopt the latter reading. 
We cannot, however, help siding in this case with the minority ; the 
two last lines of the verse seem to parcel out the ground and set the 
two parties in view : Here was Achilles, here Ulysses, and there the 
adversary, 

A 2 



PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 



10. 



Telemachus, while seeking thee in vain, 
Nestor's long tale received : 

How Rhesus too and Dolon both were slain, 
One sleeping, one deceived. 

11. 

You risk, too, too forgetful of your own, 

Into their tents to come ; 
And slaughter hundreds Avith the help of one : 

Much then you thought of home ! 

12. 

How my heart beat until it knew thee free 

With the Ismarian steeds ! 
But ah ! what profit, Troy a nullity 

And on her site green meads, 

13. 

If but as when she was our state remain, 

And no Ulysses here ! 
For all but me, Troy falls and Hector 's slain ! 

My tillage wants the steer. 



10. Telemachus. The travels and adventures of Telemaclms in search 
of his father, as given by Penclon, are well known. 

Nestor, king of Pylos, the oldest and, after Ulysses, the most acute of 
all the Greek chiefs. 

Rhesus was a king of Thrace, who inarched to the help of Priam. An 
oracle had declared that Troy was impregnable if Rhesus' horses drank 
of the Xanthus. the same river called Scamander, and fed on the Trojan 
fields. This known to the Greeks, Dioiucd and Ulysses were charged to 
obtain them. They entered the camp by night, slew Rhesus sleeping in 
his tent, and carried oh' the steeds. 

Dolon, a Trojan of remarkable swiftness, employed to spy the Grecian 
camp. He fell into the hands of Ulysses and Diomed, who held out 
hopes of life to him on condition of his revealing to them the plans of 
his chiefs. This information obtained, they put him to death. 

11. Into their tents, the tents of Rhesus* army. 

12. Ismarian. Thracian, from Mount Ismarus. 

13. My tillage wants the steer. My affairs want their principal con- 
ductor, yourself. 



PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 5 

14. 

Cork covers now the land of Troy bereft, 

Made fat with Ilian blood. 
Half buried bones are with the plough-share cleft. 

Weeds where the palace stood. 

15. 

Victorious exile, what can cause thy stay ? 

Cruel, where dost abide ? 
Here, every pilot from a foreign bay 

Meets question multiplied. 

16. 

Be any here addressed to Phrygian stand, 

A scroll departs for thee. 
Chance may . . . They've been to Pylos, Nestor's 
land : 

All dark uncertainty. 

17. 

Again to Sparta, Sparta knows no more 

Of where you may sojourn, 
Better were Troy erect as heretofore ! 

Alas ! I wildly mourn. 

18. 

Engaged in fight, the horrid chance of war, 

Like others I should fear. 
To dread one knows not what, is opening far 

Too wide a way to care. 



14. Ulan, Trojan, from the citadel Ilium, named from King Ilus, who 
reigned after Tros. 
16. Phrygian, Trojan. 

17. 1 ivildly mourn. It is a senseless wish to desire that my party had 
not succeeded in their enterprise. 
18. Engaged in fight. Were you engaged in fight. 



PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 



19. 



Whatever dangers land or sea contain 
May cause this long delay. 

Fool ! musing thus ; while he perhaps is fain 
Some debt of love to pay : 

20. 

Describing home, the rustic housewife there 

In wool alone unrude. 
No : let th' ungenerous idea melt in air : 

Here were he ; if he could, 

21. 

My father quotes, to have me newly wed, 
The lapse of time gone by. 

Let him : Penelope, thine ever said, 
Will knit no other tie ! 

22. 

But he is gained by my persistent prayer, 

And curbs his lofty will. 
Yet Samian, Zanthian, Durchian lovers dare 

Our house with riot fill 

23. 

Here, uncontrolled they govern in your hall, 
Your substance at command : 

Pisander, Metheon ; need I name them all ? 
Antinoiis greedy hand ? 



19. Fool that I am. 

20. In wool. In wool-working, knitting, embroidery, &c. 

22. Samos, Zanthos, Dulichium, islands near Ithaea. 

23. Antinoiis was the least ceremonious of all the suitors of Penelope. 
He advised to get rid of Telemachus, who supported his mother's 
courage. Ulysses first presented himself at home disguised as a beggar, 
and received a blow from this Antinoiis ; he was in consequence the first 
to feel the master's vengeance. 



PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 7 

24. 

A host there is here housed, blood-leeches all ; 

And, to top shame indeed, 
The pauper Irus and Melanth/ they call 

Your steward fat their need. 

25. 
To three too feeble wards your house is left, 

Laerte, your wife, and son. 
Lately of him, by ruse I'm near bereft : 

He would to Pylos soon, 

26. 
Heaven grant that, in the common run of fate, 

He close our eyelids down. 
Same prayer our shepherd and old nurse oblate : 

Same prayer the swineherd clown. 

27. 
But not Laertes, near life's weary term. 

This inroad can withstand ; 
Telemachus will grow to years more firm, 

Now needing father's hand. 

28. 
To expel the foe myself, alas, too mild, 

Come you, our proper stead. 
My boy, — the gods protect him, — from a child 

Your ways inherited. 

24. Irus, an Ithacan mendicant of vast corpulence, whom Ulysses, on 
his return, killed with a blow of his fist. 

Melanthus, the supervisor of Ulysses' flocks, who culled all the fattest 
for the table of the suitors of Penelope. 

25. Laertes, his father, now very old. 

Lately of him by ruse I'm near bereft. By ruse of the suitors always 
contriving means to occupy Telemachus, and prevent his intended expe- 
dition in search of his fatlier. 

Pylos. There were three towns of this name all in Peloponnesus, and 
all laying claim to the honour of being the birthplace and domain of 
the venerable Xestor ; that at the mouth of the river Alpheus seems, 
however, to have the preference. 

He would to Pylos soon. He is secretly preparing his expedition to 
Pj-los, contrary to the will of the suitors of Penelope. 



8 PENELOPE TO ULYSSES. 

29. 

Think of Laertes : come his lids to close, 

Too soon his end we'll see. 
You left me a mere girl, and now, Heaven knows, 

Nearing antiquity. 



LETTER II. 
PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 

Argument. 

Demophoon, son of Theseus and Phaedra, returning from the Trojan 
war and driven by tempest on the coast of Thrace, was received with 
hospitality hy Phillis, who governed the realm as daughter of the late 
king, Lycurgus. Intimacy between the stranger and the queen grew to 
that of man and wife. After some months' residence, Demophoon 
receives news of the death of Mnestheus, a usurper, by whom his father, 
Theseus, had been obliged to quit Athens, his own rightful domain. 
Prompted then by the desire of reigning, he feigned a necessity of going 
home to settle his affairs, and pledged his word to Phillis that he would 
return in a month. Soon, his fleet being refitted, he sailed for Athens, 
nor ever returned. Four months afterwards Phillis addresses this 
letter to him, entreating that, mindful of past favours, he will not 
violate his plighted faith : and declaring that, were he to do so, rather 
than endure his slight, she would put an end to her existence. 



1. 

De^iophoox ! I, your once-loved Phillis, write, 

Complaining slow delay. 
You promised, ere the moon shone in full light, 

To anchor in our bay. 

2. 
Four times her orb has waned, replenished four, 

And no Athenian sail. 
If you sum rightly (lovers tell the hour), 

Not immature our wail. 



Hope lingered long : we believe not things we 
Now, spite of me, they wound. [dread : 

Imposing on itself, Illusion said, 

" Wind south : he's hither bound ! n 
A 5 



10 PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 

4. 

We've railed on Theseus for your journey stayed : 

He perhaps no tie to home. 
Meanwhile, lest Hebrus-bound, we are afraid 

Of ships engulfed in foam. 



False one, how often is your welfare prayed 

With incense in the fane ! 
How often, seeing the favouring breeze, is said, 

" If well, he's on the main ! " 

6. 

Thus faithful love new causes of delay 

Essays to invent and prove. 
But, tardy still, oaths nothing draw this way ; 

As profitless my love, 

7. 
Like sails, Demophoon, words to empty air ! 

Words false, sails all astray ! 
What have I done but loved too unaware ? 

Is that your quarrel ? Say. 

8. 

Traitor ! one fault of mine, you here received, 

The stamp of merit wore. 
Where now hands joined, — faith plighted and 
believed ? 

Where all the gods you swore ? 



4. Lest Hebvus-bound. Lest you, when bound for the river Hebrus ; 
that is, Thrace, my country. 

5. Is said by me. 

6. Oaths nothing draw this way. The oaths you hare sworn do not | 
make you come. 

8. Hands joined in solemn promise of marriage. 



PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOO^. 11 

9. 

Where Hymen now, who was ray pledge and stay, 

For social years to bind ? 
You swore by Ocean, oft your dangerous way 

O'er wave with every wind : 

10. 

Swore by your ancestor, who rules a sea, 

Unless he too is feigned : 
By Yenus and those weapons, death to me, 

Of dart or spark attained : 

11. 

By Juno who protects the marriage bed : 

By mystic Ceres' fane. 
Of all these gods my cause be seconded, 

You'll sore abide the pain. 

12. 

Madly your fleet our artisans restore ; 

Adjust new wings to fly : 
To bear you hence, we furnish sail and oar ; 

By our own weapons die. 



9. Hymen, the god of marriage. 

10. Swore by your ancestor, wlio rides a sea. She alludes to iEgeus, 
the father of Demophoon's father, Theseus, who drowned himself in the 
iEgean Sea through an imagined disappointment. Theseus, returning 
from his victory over the Minotaur (see Letter X., Argument) ought by 
agreement to have hoisted white sails to intimate "to his father hi's 
victory over the Minotaur ; this he neglected : the consequence was, that 
the old man, in despair, deeming him dead, threw himself into the sea 
which afterwards took its name from his, and fable has made of iEgeus 
a sea-god. 

Of dart or spark attained. Cupid, the son of Yenus and god of love, 
generally figures with bow and arrows to wound the heart, but torches 
or sparks are also attributed to him for the purpose of inflaming it. 

11. Juno, the Queen of Heaven, presides over marriage. 

JTystic Ceres. The goddess who presides over the fruits of the earth. 
She was daughter of Saturn and mother of Proserpine, whom Pluto 
carried off and made queen of Hell. The epithet, mystic, alludes to the 
secrecy with which her cult was performed by the priests, emblematical 
of her nightly search after her daughter, 



12 PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 

13. 

We trusted words, which lavish you repeat ; 

Trusted your house's name ; 
Trusted your tears ; can they have learnt deceit, 

Subservient to aim ? 

14. 

The gods we trusted : where have we no gage ? 

Too open to the snare. 
My house is not my grief, nor anchorage ; 

Would all had ended there. 



15. 

But to have passed from board to marriage bed, 
These arms in thine to have laced ! 

Would that the yester'eve had seen me dead, 
While Phillis might die chaste ! 

16. 

Hope flattered fair, as known my rightful claim : 

Hope merited is just. 
To cheat the simple is no hard won fame : 

Some favour 's due to trust. 



17. 

An easy woman fell to words so bland. 

Gods' will, this all your praise ! 
Mid MgesiTL statues with your father stand : 

Him a step higher raise. 

13. Trusted your house's name. Theseus, the father of Demophoon, 
by his exploits, stands second only to Hercules, and traces his genealogy 
up to Jupiter himself. 

14. Too open to the snare. Too open as I was to your artifice. 

17. JEgean statues. Statues in honour of your grandfather's family. 
(See note 10.) 



PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 13 



18, 



When of his Scyron and Procrust' ^tis read ; 

Of Minotaur ; Sinis ; 
Thebes taken and the Centaurs buffeted ; 

The realm explored of Dis ; 

19. 

Thereafter your addition let them read : 
'Whom feeble Phillis believed. 

Of father's actions, miming one misdeed, 
The Cretan girl deceived. 

20. 

What palliation needs, you have retained : 

Heir to his fault you are. 
She, and I envy not, a better gained ; 

Tame tigers draw her car. 



18. Scyron was a robber famous about Megara ; Procrustes, another 
as notorious in Athens ; both were killed by Theseus. The latter is said 
to have had a certain bed in which to put his prisoners. If these were 
found too short, he stretched them to the length of his bed ; if on the 
contrary they were too long, he cut them shorter. 

Jlinotanr. The Minotaur was a monster, half man half bull, killed by 
Theseus. (See Letter X.) 

Sinis, a tyrant on the Isthmus of Corinth, who caused men to be tied 
to bended trees, which, being let spring, tore them to pieces. 

Tiicbes taken. Thebes in Bceotia, in the destruction of which Theseus 
was eminently instrumental. 

The Centaurs, a people of Thcssaly, fabled, from their early skill in 
horsemanship, to be half man half horse. At the marriage of Hippodamia, 
at £lis, the chief Centaurs were invited, and, warmed with wine, offered 
violence to the women. This caused a battle, in which they were over- 
come by Hercules, Theseus, Pirithous, and others of the Thessalian 
nation of the Lapithre. They were afterwards nearly extirpated by 
Hercules. 

The realm explored of Dis. Theseus accompanied his bosom friend 
Pirithous in an expedition to the infernal regions, the realm of Pluto or 
Dis, with a view to carry off Proserpine ; but this too hazardous enter- 
prise failed, and they were both detained by Pluto till afterwards 
liberated at the intercession of Hercules. 

19. The Cretan girl deceived. Ariadne, who was abandoned by his 
father Theseus. (See her Letter, Xo. X.) 

20. Heir to his fault you are. Your father's fault, inconstancy. 

She, and I envy not, a, better gained. Ariadne, deserted by Theseus, 
was afterwards espoused by the god Bacchus, and thence rbde in hi3 
car drawn by tame tigers. 



14 PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 

21. 

The slighted Thracian suitors we offend ; 

A stranger who prefer : 
Saith one, " Let her to learned Athens wend ; 

" To rule we need not her. 

22. 

" Ends declare acts/' "Who judges by the end 

Successless may he be ! 
Did you again to Thracian waters tend, 

They'd laud my loyalty. 

23. 

Yet mine no praise, nor you my palace prize, 

Nor will my bay receive. 
That piteous look is still before my eyes, 

Demophoon's taking leave. 

24. 

You dared embrace, and on my neck impress 
Kisses drawn long and deep ; 

And mingle tears with mine, and show distress 
That Auster did not sleep. 

25. 

And at our parting these last words you spake : 

" Oh Phillis ! wait for me/' 
Ah, wait ! you left me no return to make : 

Wait infidelity ! 



21. Thracian sziitors. The noblemen of my country who seek my 
alliance. 
Learned Athens, the country of Demophoon. 

23. Yet mine no praise. No praise is due to me. 

Nor will my bay receive. Receive yon, since yen have no intention to 
return. 

24. Auster, the south wind, favourable from the Hcbrus to Attica. 



PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 15 

26. 

And yet I wait. Come tardy to these arms : 

Be for a time "untrue. 
Most wretched prayer ! there are some other 

Mine are a cloy to you. [charms : 

27. 
Once gone it seemed Phillis you'd never known ; 

Asked, "Phillis, who is she ?" 
One who, Demophoon, to a wreck here thrown. 

Gave hospitality ; 

28. 

Afforded means ; an indigent made rich. 

Fain ever to do more ; 
Gave him LycurgW wide dominions, which 

Queen-rule impatient bore, 

29. 

From icy Rhodope to Efemus shade, 

The Hebrus-watered land ; 
But, more than all, first fruits of love who paid, 

Her zone loosed by his hand. 

30. 

Tisiphone behowled that marriage bed ; 

The night-bird hooted there : 
Alecto pale, with snakes about her head, 

A funeral flambeau bare. 



29. BJwdope, Ilcemus, both mountains in Thrace : Hebrus, a river of 
the same. 

Her zone loosed by 7iis liand. Taking off the lady's girdle on the wed- 
ding night was the finale of the ceremonies berore possession; as in 
France the cavalisr of the bride's maid takes off the bride's garter pre- 
vious to her retreat for the night. 

30. Tisiphone and Alecto, two of the furies. The third was Megara. 
They were daughters of Night and the river Acheron in Hell. 

The Latin sets funereal flambeaux in the picture, without placing one 
precisely in the hand of Alecto ; the change, however, to accommodate 
the verse, is unimportant. 



16 PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 

31. 

Nathless by garish sun or chilly star, 
Coastward the sea to find, 

We roam o'er crag and fruit-clad hill afar, 
Noting which way the wind. 

32. 

"Whatever coming sails peer o'er the main, 
" They are my gods/' I say ; 

Fly to the beach; nor for the surge refrain, 
Breaking in frothy spray. 



They come. Hope dies. 'Tis all another gear. 

In th' women's arms I sink. 

There is a cove whose rounding horns come near, 

Abrupt each headland brink : 

34. 

Would in its briny pool my sorrows toss'd ! 

Nay, such an end is nigh. 
Bear me, ye waves, to his false-hearted coast, 

A corpse before his eye ! 

35. 

Harder than rock, or thy hard self, thou'dst say, 

" Not so Fd see thee here." 
Oft thirst we poison ; often could we pray 

Transfixion by a spear. 

36. 

This neck too, in your false embrace that lay, 

To cord owes well its breath. 
Offended modesty its debt to pay, 

Easy the choice of death. 

35. Harder than rock, or thy hard self. Were you harder &c. 



PHILLIS TO DEMOPHOON. 17 

37. 

Cause of iny grave, tliy name shall be writ over : 
A verse the deed shall brand : — 

Phillis JDemophoon killed ; the spouse the lover. 
He author, she the hand. 

37. Poor Phillis chose the cord and hung herself in despair. 



LETTER III. 
BRISEIS TO ACHILLES. 

Argument. 

The first Greek expedition to the Trojan war, sailing by Lemnos, 
landed in Phrygia and began operations by attacking and destroying 
certain towns in the proximity and alliance of that whose capture was 
the grand object of their voyage. Achilles, son of Peleus and the sea- 
goddess Thetis, and who in prowess surpassed all the other heroes of 
Greece, was chiefly instrumental in the taking of Lyrnessus, where two 
beautiful women became his prisoners : the one, Chryseis, whom we 
know as Cressida in Shakspeare's play, daughter of Chryses, priest of 
Apollo ; the other, Hippodamia, otherwise known by her family name, 
Briseis. Achilles cedes Chryseis to Agamemnon, reserving Briseis to 
himself. Chryseis being afterwards claimed by the priest, her father, 
and the Greeks enjoined by augury to give her up, Agamemnon, after 
long resistance and after severe inflictions from Heaven on the Greeks 
for his disobedience, consents at length to give up the maid, but insists, 
as being first in command, that Achilles shall cede to him his prize, 
Briseis. Achilles makes no resistance to this order, but retires in dud- 
geon from the war, nor can be induced by any entreaties to resume the 
fight. Magnificent presents are offered by Agamemnon, the first of 
which is his own Briseis, the subject of quarrel, but Achilles remains 
obdurate. Thereupon Briseis addresses this letter to him, reproaching 
him with the sin of excessive anger, and exhorting him to take arms 
against the common enemy, Troy; above all, to receive back herself, 
spontaneously offered by Agamemnon. 



1. 

These from Briseis to Achilles sped, 

In Greek by foreign hand. 
The blots are burning tears abundant shed ; 

They for sad words may stand. 

2. 

Were it for me my lord to disapprove, 

I'd venture to say this : 
Though not his fault my expedite remove, 

One way the fault was his. 

1. By foreign hand. Briseis, as an Asiatic, excuses her want of skill 
in Greek writing. 



BEISEIS TO ACHILLES. 19 

3. 

For TalthyV and Eurybates, that day 
To have me hence they came ; 

And did ; they, mutual glancing, seemed to say 5 
" Is this their ardent flame ? " 

4. 

Delay were easy and of pain 'twere good : 

Alas, no parting kiss ! 
No solace but of tears a bitter flood ! 

A double sacrifice ! 

5. 

Oft to escape their guard it was my drift, 

But enemies were rife : 
I feared detention, to be sent a gift 

To some rich Trojan's wife. 

6. 

What matter? of return no signs appear: 

Your anger passes by. 
" Why weep ? " Patroclus whispered to my ear ; ; 

" Youll come back presently/' 

7. 
Me ; far from claiming, he'll not even take : 

Love hard to comprehend ! 
Phoenix and Ajax intercession make, 

A cousin and a friend. 



3. Talthybius and Eurybates are two emissaries of Agamemnon to 
claim Brise'is. 

4. A double sacrifice. Once on becoming prisoner at Lyrnessus, and 
now to be yielded up to Agamemnon. 

6. What matter / of return no signs appear. What matter is it to 
me whether I become a slave or not ? I see no signs of your love re- 
turning. 

7. Phoenix, the friend appointed by Achilles' father, Pelcus, to be a 
mentor to his son. Ajax, being the son of Telamon the brother of 
Peleus, was first cousin to Achilles. 



20 BRISEIS TO ACHILLES. 



And wise Ulysses,. offering largess even 

To further my depart : 
Twenty brass cauldrons and of tripods seven, 

Egregious works of art. 

9. 

To these were added talents ten of gold 
And twice six matchless steeds ; 

Fair Lesbian girls, a needless gift to hold, 
Though won by your own deeds. 

10. 

With these, again superfluous, a spouse 

Of Agamemnon's three. 
You're paid to have me from the imperial house. 

And spurn the courtesy. 

11. 

Why doth Achilles deem Brise'is vile ? 

Whither, light Love, art fled ? 
On wretchedness will Fortune never smile ? 

Is mine unlimited ? 

12. 

We saw Lyrnessus burn before your hate, 

Whereof great part was I : 
Saw my three noble brethren meet their fate, 

Friends of my infancy : 



10. Spurn the courtesy. Agamemnon's courtesy in restoring me, 
with even presents to boot. 

12. Lyrnessus. See Argument. 

Whereof great part tvas I. Since she was wife of the reigning 
prince, Myncs, whom Achilles slew. 



BRISEIS TO ACHILLES. 21 



13. 

Stout as he was, we saw my husband fall 

Expiring on your sword. 
Yourself became the compensate of all, 

Of country, brothers, lord. 

14. 

You swore to me by Thetis of the sea ; 

I went with fair design. 
Words ! words ! Now absent to abandon me ! 

And even dowered decline ! 

15. 

'Tis said, before the morning rays appear, 

You sail, howe'er the wind. 
Ah ! when .the treason reached my wretched ear, 

I stood bereft of mind. 

16. 

You leave me, reckless spirit, and to whom ? 

What solace, when you're fled ? 
May earth engulf me in its yawning tomb, 

Or lightning strike me dead, 

17. 

Bather than Phthian oar should cleave the seas, 

Brise'is left behind ! 
If that return to your penates please, 

Her no great clog you'd find. 

14. Thetis, the sea-goddess, mother of Achiller. 

Dowered by the rich presents of Agamemnon, her own property being 
lost in the destruction of Lyrnessus. 

17. Than Phthian oar: that is, your vessels, Phthia in Thessaly being 
the birthplace of Achilles. 



22 BKISBIS TO ACHILLES. 

18. 

As captive let her follow, not as wife, 
At wool-work no hand better : 

Th' Achaian spouse in beauties the most rife 
Will to your couch : — so let her. 

19. 

And worthy Peleus' race, whence Jove the head, 

Pleasing to Nereus too : 
While we, subservient slaves, plying the thread, 

Work off the distaff clew. 

20. 

Let not your wife to hard dominion bear : 

Meseems her aspect lowers : 
Not in your presence cuff and rend my hair, 

You joking,-- -" Once 'twas ours/' 

21. . 

Let be : so here you leave me not to expire : 

At that my spirits freeze. 
What wilt ? Atrides now laments his ire : 

Greece crouches at your knees. 



22, 

Subdue your anger, chief who conquer all 
Fell Hector's rage oppose. 

To arms, Achilles, first true love recall ! 
Mars aiding, rout the foes ! 



19. Worthy Peleus' race, tvhencc Jove the head. yEgina, daughter of 
Asopus, king of Bceotia, conceived, by Jupiter, iEacus, who begat Peleus 
the father of Achilles. 

Pleasing to Nereus too. Nercus is one of the most ancient of the sea 
deities. Ey his wife Doris he had fifty daughters called the Nereides, 
of whom Thetis, the mother of Achilles, was one. 

20. Once 'tivas ours. Once she and all her charms were mine. 

21. Let be. Let it even be so. 
What wilt? What would you have P 

22. First true love recall. First recall mc who am your true lover. 



BRISEIS TO ACHILLES. 23 

23. 
For me you chafed, let me your anger calm : 

Its cause be its surcease. 
Let pride, a wife contented, feel no qualm : 

iEnides armed for his. 

2i. 
Althea, whom of brethren he bereft, 

Damned him : the tale you know : 
A war was tken ; he, proud, his armour left, 

Kefused to strike a blow. 

25. 
Solely his wife prevailed ; too happy she ! 

My words are empty air. 
No envy mine, who aped no wife's degree 

When called the bed to share : 

26. 
Once, it reminds me, mistress termed, I said, 
" For that name still more slave/ 



Now, by the reverend bones of him that 's dead, 
Which lie in ill-closed grave ; — 



23. Let pride, a wife contented, feel no qualm. Let your pride feel 
uo compunction for having given way to a wife. 

JEnides armed for his, and the two following verses. JEnides or 
Meleager is the son of ^Eneus, King of Calydon and Althea. The fates 
presided at his birth, and promised an illustrious career ; but Atropos, 
one of the three, limited the duration of his life to that of a log of wood 
then burning on the fire. His mother, Althea, sprang immediately to 
the fire and snatch'd out the half-burnt brand, which she preserved 
with religious care. The most renowned of this hero's exploits is the 
Calydonian hunt after a monstrous boar with which the goddess Diana 
had afflicted the country, in punishment of some slight done to her 
deity. Meleager in this hunt slew the beast, and presented its spoils 
to Antiope, whom he loved. His uncles, jealous of this, would deprive 
Antiope of the skin : hence a combat, in which Meleager killed his 
uncles. This drew on him the imprecations of his mother, and caused 
him to refuse his aid on their city being attacked, but by the entreaties 
of his wife Cleopatra, he armed and repelled the invader. 

25. Nor envy mine. Nor is envy mine, nor am I envious on that 
account. 

26. Now by the reverend bones of Mm that's dead. Her husband 
Mynes, already mentioned in note to verse 12. 

Which lie in ill-closed grave. Buried with the mass on the field of 
battle. 



24 BRISEIS TO ACHILLES. 

27. 

By the three spirits of my brothers slain, 
Who with their country died ; — 

By both our heads which side by side have lain 
And by that sword we've tried j 

28. 

From the Mycenian is Briseis free : 

This solemnly she'll swear. 
Achilles would an infidelity. — 

Ah ! were it fit to dare 

29. 

Inquire, " My lord, hath he no love joy found ?" 

He'd pause for a reply. 
The Greeks have heard his lute's complaining 
sound 

Adoring some bright eye. 

SO. 

And to the question, Why refuse the fight ? 

" 'Tis music. War 's a bore. 
" Safer in beauty's arms with finger light 

" The trembling chords run o'er, 

ol. 

" Than sword or battle-axe to strain the hand, 

" Or casque encase the hair." 
Yet formerly you loved the warlike band, 

Their glorious deeds to share. 



28. These four lines render two of the Latin text. 
The Mycenian, Agamemnon. 

Achilles would an infidelity. Achilles would rather that I had com- 
mitted an infidelity. 



BRISEIS TO ACHILLES. 25 



32. 



'Gainst me alone do feats of war delight ? 

Dies glory with my soil? 
The gods forbid ! Fall Hector in the fight ! 

Be he your valour's foil ! 

33. 

Oh Greeks, Briseis send her lord to call, 

Kisses her words among : 
Shell more effect than Phoenix, Ajax, all ; 

More than Ulysses' tongue. 

34. 

'Tis much in well-known arms to clasp the neck : 

The eye to say, " I'm here." 
Though dire, as Thetis' waves as slow to reck, 

You'd yield to one soft tear. 

35. 

(So may your father, Peleus, fill his day : 
Like you may Pyrrhus shine !) 

Oh, brave Achilles, turn me not away ; 
Let not Briseis pine. 

36. 

Is your love weary ? Nay, then welcome fate. 

She cares no more to live. 
From you alone her health can emanate : 

Give hope, and life you give. 

32. 'Gainst me alone do feats of ivar delight? alluding to the con- 
quest of her country, already mentioned. 

33. Phoenix, &c. have been noted, verse 7. 

34. Thetis, noted, verse 14. 

35. Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. See Letter VIII., Hermione to 
Orestes. 

B 



26 



BKISEIS TO ACHILLES. 



37. 

Of hope bereft, Briseis joins her kin. 

'Twere poor to answer, " Do f 
And needless too ; for, thrust a dagger in, 

There's blood yet left for you. 

38. 

Thrust home that blade which, but Minerva 
Had struck Atrides dead. [cared, 

Ah ! rather give me life : when foe you spared, 
Has love less merited ? 

39. 

Troy teems with higher game, worthier to slay ; 

Send foes to their long home. 
But to Briseis, or you go or stay, 

By master's right say, " Come/' 



37. Briseis joins her kin, who, as we have seen, verses 12 and 13, are 
all dead by the hand of Achilles. 

38. But Minerva cared. Were it not that Minerva took care to pre- 
vent you. Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and war, watched over the 
interests of the Greeks, and withheld Achilles from harming Aga- 
memnon. 

When foe you spared. When you were our enemy you spared my 
life. 



LETTER IV. 
PELEDRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 

Argument. 

Theseus, the son of iEgeus, having overcome the minotaur in the 
labyrinth of Crete, was accompanied in his immediate flight by Ariadne 
andPluedra, the two daughters of Minos and Pasiphae, the King and 
Queen, with promise to espouse Ariadne for the help she had afforded him 
in his undertaking. But admonished by Bacchus at Xaxos, or as some 
say at Chios, where they had anchored by the way, he sailed, leaving 
Ariadne behind, and afterwards married Phaedra. She, during an 
absence of Theseus, became enamoured of Hippolytus, her husband's 
son by Hippolyte, the most renowned of the Amazons. The youth, 
being insensible to her advances, and wholly addicted to the sports of 
the field, she addresses this letter, declaring to him her illicit love, and 
conjuring him to accept a union with her. 



1. 

Health, that with thee unkind herself would 
Thesid, let Phaedra send. [need, 

Dumb characters can do no harm ; then read : 
May be to please they tend. 

2. 

Secrets thus told o'er land and sea are sped : 

A foe will read a foe. 
Essaying thrice to speak, thrice sound lay dead: 

Accents denied to flow. 



1. TJiesid, or Thesides, Hippolytus, son of Theseus. 
Dumb characters, the silent letters of the alphabet which compose 
her letter, 

B 2 



28 PHAEDRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 

3. 

Pudour with love, when feasible, ally: 
They write who dare not say. 

What love demands unsafely we deny: 
The very gods obey. 

4. 

I hesitated long : Love whispered, " Write ; 

" Hard heart will yet join hand/' 
Aid, Love, and as our vitals now ignite, 

Let not his soul withstand. 

5. 

No plighted vow will I to falsehood turn : 

Pure fame yet stands entire. 
Ask else. Late love is violent ; we burn, 

Consuming in desire. 

6. 

The new-worked steer but ill abides the yoke, 

The unhandled colt the rein. 
So the new heart will sore endure love's stroke, 

Sorely my soul its pain. 



Those who sin young play safe their practised 

It pains where love is late. [game : 

Thee wait the premises of maiden fame : 
To both one joy one fate. 

8. 
'Tis sweet to cull the orchard's early store, 

The primal rose to gain : 
But if that candour w T hich we faultless wore 

Be 7iow to mark with stain, 

5. No plighted voic. No vow that I shall plight to you. 
Pure fame yet stands ait ire. Xo reproach can be made on my con- 
duct till this moment. 



PH/EDRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 29 

9. 
'Tis well : we nobly burn. Unworthy flame 

Were worse than lawless love ; 
And were heaven's queen to cede her god, I'd claim 

Hippolytus 'fore Jove. 

10. 

Wouldst believe it ? new delights allure me now : 

To hunt the savage beast : 
Delia's my goddess, of the silver bow, 

Imbibing still your taste. 

11. 

For me the wood, to chase the flying hart, 

To cheer the houjids along, 
To hurl with steady hand the quivering dart, 

To lie the woods among. 

12. 

Now to direct the car my virile pride is, 

Making the coursers fly : 
Now mad, like Bacchus-ridden Eleleides, 

Or those who drum and cry : 

lo. 

Or those again mid nymphs and satyrs thrown, 
Touched by their power divine. 

All these are told me, once the fury gone, 
Whom love-flames undermine. 

9. 'Tis well: ice nobly burn. There is no harm done, because I burn 
for a noble object, Hippolytus. 

10. Delia, a name of Diana or Luna, the moon, goddess of field sports. 
Imbibing. I who imbibe or instinctively adopt! 

12. Eleleides, the same as bacchants, women worshippers of Bacchus, 
Elelcus being a name of Bacchus from the cry Eleleu, which is the 
same as the Hebraic Hallelu, used in celebrating his mysteries. 

Bacchus-ridden implies excited by the libations of those ceremonies. 

Or those who drum and cry. Alluding to the worship of Cybele, 
thought the same with Ceres, goddess of harvest, whose ceremonies 
were also performed with various strange noises. 

13. Or those again mid nymphs and satyrs. There was a belief, 
with respect to nymphs and satyrs, similar to our vulgar notions about 
fairies. Whoever had the misfortune to fall in the way of their revels 
became enchanted and moved by a certain rage. 



30 PHuEDKA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 



14. 

Haply our race with love's excess is curst ; 

'Tis Venus' tribute paid : 
Jove won Europa, of our race the first* 

The god a bull portrayed. 

15. 

Poor Pasiphae, strange infatuated, 

A monster yeaned to view. 
The traitor, Theseus, Ariadne led 

A deadly maze safe through. 

16. 

Myself, in fine, by right of Minos' race, 

Am born like fate to see. 
Two sisters in one house affection place : 

One Theseus smit, you me. 

14. 9 Tis Venus' tribute paid. Venus bore a grudge against all the 
race of the sun, from whom Phaedra, by her mother, descends, on 
account of that luminary having exposed her intrigue with Mars. 
Hence she supposes Venus to inflict inordinate and unhappy loves on 
the whole race. 

Jove tvon Europa, of our race the first, Jupiter, when king of 
Crete, became enamour'd of the beautiful Europa, daughter of Agenor, 
king of Phoenicia, and carried her off in a vessel whose ensign was a 
bull. Hence the fable that the god assumed the form of a bull, mixed 
in the flocks of Agenor, attracted the attention of his daughter, who 
caressed the beautiful animal and mounted on his back. The bull 
made towards the sea, took water, and conveyed his prize to Crete, 
where he resumed his own form and won the young lady's heart. The 
fruit of his amour was Minos, Phaedra's father. 

A bull portrayed. Appeared in the semblance of a bull. 

15. Poor JPasiphae, strange infatuated. Pasiphae was the wife of 
Minos and mother of Phaedra. Her infatuation was that of conceiving 
an unnatural affection for a white bull, a desire inflicted on her by 
Neptune because Minos had refused to sacrifice the animal on his altar. 
She accomplished her wishes by the help of Daedalus, an Athenian artist, 
the most inventive genius of his time. (See Letter XIX., note 13.) The 
fruit of this enormous amour was the Minotaur, a monster half man 
half bull, whom Minos, to hide his wife's shame, kept at Crete in an 
inextricable labyrinth. 

The traitor, Theseus, Ariadne led. Ariadne led the traitor Theseus. 
Traitor on account of his conduct to her sister Ariadne, by whose clew 
he had escaped from the labyrinth. (See Ariadne to Theseus, Letter X.) 

16. Minos' race. Prom Europa, the first of her race, to herself the 
last, she has shown that all the women have either burned with 
unlawful love or been victims to love-treason. 

One Theseus smit, you me. Theseus inspired one with love ; Ariadne, 
you have smitten me in like manner. 



PHAEDRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 31 

17. 

Theseus, Thesides, win two sister hearts, 

A double trophy gained. 
Would, when you came to the Eleusian parts, 

In Gnossus I had remained. 

18. 

I loved you many a day before, but now, — 

Oh heart ! oh dizzy head ! — 
Milk white your dress, roses confined your brow 

Glowing sun-umbrated. 



19. 

What many call a rough severe aspect, 

Determined Phaedra deems. 
Avaunt those fopling youth, like maidens deck'd ; 

Plain dress the man beseems, 

20. 

How well your bold, dust-sprinkled brows befit, 

And flowing locks behind ; 
Or when in vigorous bound the steed you sit, 

And close curvetting wind ; 

21, 

Or when, intent, I watch you, Mars-like, wield 

The ponderous battle spear ; 
Or the broad javelin hurl in sportive field ; — 

Your every act is dear. 

17. Theseus, Thesides. That is, Theseus and Thesides, Hippolytus, 
son of Theseus. 

Eleusian, from Eleusis, a city near Athens. 
Gnossus, a city of Crete and Phaedra's home. 

18. Milk white your dress, roses confined your brow. The favourite 
banqueting dress in remote times of Greece, as sung by Anacreon. 

Sun-umbrated, sun-burnt. 



32 PHiEDRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 

22. 
Leave but that roughness in the mountain wood, 

Phaedra needs milder chase : 
High-girt Diana duly paid what good, 

And Venus' turn disgrace ? 

23. 

Eest to the limbs you cannot safe refuse, 
New force and verve to bring : 

Unbend, for Cynthia's panoply you use, 
The bow to spare the string. 

24. 
Cephalus was great in wood-craft ; when he shot, 

Innumerous fell the slain. 
For him Aurore her aging flame forgot, 

Nor loved she quite in vain. 

25. 

Venus among the oaks Adonis led, 

On the first sod reclined. 
CEnides burned for Atalanta's bed : 

To her his chase consigned. 

22. High-girt Diana duly paid what good, and Venus' turn dis- 
grace? What is gained by sacrificing all your time to field sports in 
honour of Diana and leave no moments for honouring Venus by love ? 
High-girt is of double meaning : first, it may imply the girdle tightly 
braced for hunting ; or secondly, her prim character, as we say stiff- 
laced, starched. 

23. Cynthia's panoply. Diana's armour, the hunting weapons and 
dress. 

24. Cephalus was great in wood-craft. Cephalus, son of Dioncus 
king of Thessaly, remarkable for his faithful attachment to Procris, 
daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. Being a great hunter he was 
an early riser, and so handsome that Aurora was smitten with his 
beauty and bore him off. Whatever favours the goddess may have gained 
from the young sportsman,— and the text implies that she did gain 
some, — he remained faithful to first love and returned to his Procris. 

Her aging fame forgot. Her husband, Tithonus, son of Laomedon and 
brother to Priam king of Troy. He in his youth had been snatched off 
by Aurora similarly to Cephalus and became her husband. He after- 
wards begged to be made immortal, and, by his wife's interest at the 
court of J upiter, the favour was granted him. Put he had forgotten to 
ask perpetual youth, and weight of years wearied him of life. The god- 
dess, who could not make an immortal die, changed him to a grass- 
hopper. 

25. Venus among the oalcs Adonis led. Adonis was the incestuous 
offspring of Myrrha with her father, Cinyras king of Cyprus. He was 



PH.EDEA TO HXPPOLYTUS. 33 



26. 



Cited be our loves too : Cypris away, 
Blithe were the woods no more. 

Myself will come, nor shall the hills effray, 
Nor rock nor fanged boar. 

27. 

Two seas their billows dash on th' isthmian strand : 

You hear both waters moan. 
We'll at Troezene live, Pittheus' land, 

More pleasing than my own. 

28. 

Long the Neptunian hero will abide 

With his Pirithous ; 
Theseus prefers, no verity to hide, 

His friend to both of us. 

29. 

Nor this the only wrong of him be spoke : 

We've both far worse to say : 
My brother's limbs with gnarled club he broke ; 

My sister cast away. 



carried off by Venus on account of his extraordinary beauty. Being 
passionately fond of hunting, the goddess cautioned him against wild 
boars, and at last he met his death by one. (This mishap is sweetly 
sung in an ode attributed to Anacreon.) Venus wept, and changed the 
corpse into an anemone. His mother, Myrrha, who had fled to avoid 
her father's vengeance, became after death the tree which bears her 
name, the myrrh-tree. 

(Enides. Meleager, son of (Eneus, mentioned Letter III., verse 23. 

His chase. The spoils won in the chase. 
. 26. Cypris away. Cypris or Cypria are names of Venus, since that 
goddess is said to have "risen from the sea near the isle of Cyprus. The 
name here stands for beauty, woman. 

27. The isthmian strand. The shores of the isthmus of Corinth. 
Pittheus, the maternal grandfather of Theseus, 

More pleasing than my own, the land of Crete. 

28. Neptunian hero. Theseus, son ofvEgeus, is grandson of Xeptune. 
WUh his Pirithous. The close friendship of Theseus and Pirithous is 

cited like that of Orestes and Pylades. 

2?. My brother's limbs. The 3Iinotaur, already mentioned. 

My sister cast away. Ariadne abandoned like a wreck on the isle of 
Xaxos. (See Letter X.) 

B 5 



34 PHiEDKA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 

30. 

Thee bore the valiantest axe-wielding maid. 

Well worthy each the other. 
And where is she ? Dead on great Theseus' blade ; 

Nor saved the son the mother, 

31. 

They by no wedded vow connect : and why ? 

That you might be no heir. 
From me he gave you kin, whom all not I 

But he ordained to rear. 

32. 

Would rather, dearest, than your right to bar, 
Both birth and mother dead ! 

Go now : the worthy father's chamber spare, 
So aptly vacuated. 

33. 

Nor, for a step-mother adores her son, 

Let your soul feel dismay. 
Such worn-out piety is well-nigh done : 

'Twas old in Saturn's day. 

34. 

Jove wills for good and sanctions every tie. 
Who his own sister led. 



30. The valiantest axe-wielding maid. Hippolytc, queen of the 
Amazons : the battle-axe was their distinguishing weapon. 

Bead on great Theseus' blade. It suits her to affirm that Hyppolyte 
died by the hand of Theseus ; but she is said to have been killed by an 
Amazon, when fighting on his side in the Amazonian war. 

Nor saved the son the mother. Nor did the father's love for the child 
save its mother from her fate. 

31. Wot I but he ordained to rear. We are content now-a-days to 
drown " kittens and blind puppies ;" the remoter ancients made no 
scruple of putting infants to death if they were blessed with too many. 

32. Both birth and mother. Both the child and myself, an hyperbole 
of disinterestedness. 

By whom disherited. By whom you are disinherited. 
34. Jove wills for good. Whatever Jupiter wills is for the good of 
humanity. 

Who his own sister led to the altar. Jupiter and Juno were own 



PH/EDRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 35 

Then surely knit with lawful bond am I, 
By Cypria sponsated. 

35. 

Nor hard the fault to slur : ask Venus how : 

The filial name shall hide. 
Our warm embraces seen, warm praises flow ; 

Fit love on either side. 

36. 

For you no care, no nightly door : you have 

No keeper to deceive. 
Same house as wont : an open kiss you gave, 

Same open kiss receive. 

37. 

Safe then my love^ nay more, eulogia due, 
Though on my couch you were. 

Then cease delay. Oh promise to be true, 
"Your heart so Cupid spare ! 

38. 

I condescend as suppliant to pray : 

What will not pride endure ? 
So confidently firm not to give way : 

Love, love, in nothing sure ! 



brother and sister, children of Saturn and Ops, who were begotten of 
Caelum and Terra (heaven and earth). But Phaedra's instance is rather 
forced, since the primal age had no choice, but brother and sister, to 
make their matches. 

By Cypria sponsated. Given in marriage by Venus herself, who in- 
spires me with love for you. 

35. Nor hard t7iefav.lt to slur. It will not be hard to disguise our 

fault. 

The filial name shall hide. Your name as my son will hide all. 

Fit love on either side. Our love will be regarded but as filial and 
maternal affection. 

36. For you no nightly door. You will not have to enter my house by 
stealth at night. 



36 PHiEDEA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 

39. 
Kneeling, my uplift hands beseech, oh, yield ! 

Love to all form is blind, 
Is shameless. Modesty deserts the field. 

Oh, bend that haughty mind ! 

40. 
What boots my father, Minos, ocean sways ? 

My line from Jove by birth ? 
My mother's genitor invest in rays, 

Whose car directs the earth ? 

41. 
Love levels all. Let me for them entreat : 

Spare, if not me, spare mine. 
We hold a dotal land, Jove's isle of Crete, 

Hippolytus, as thine. 

42. 
Yield thy fierce soul. A bull's my mother broke : 

Wilt be more hard than he ? 
By Venus, my great god, I thee invoke : 

So love be mild to thee ! 

43. 
So the swift goddess in the woods thee guard 

And aid the chase to near : 
So may the fawns and satyrs round thee ward : 

The boar fall to thy spear. 

40. What boots my father, Minos, ocean sways'! Minos, the King of 
Crete, being powerful at sea, is here said, like Britannia, to " rule the 
waves." 

My line, from Jove by birth ? 
My mother's genitor invest in rays. 
Phaedra was of very high nobility, having Jupiter for her paternal 
grandfather, Minos being the son of Jupiter and Europa, and the Sun 
or Apoilo for her grandfather on her mother's side, 

42. A bull's my mother broke. Pasiphae, already mentioned. 
My great god. Of all the gods her whom I first adore. 

43. So the swift goddess. Diana, goddess of the chase. 

So may the fawns and satyrs round ihcc ward. May the forest 
deities have care of you in hunting. 



PH^DRA TO HIPPOLYTUS. 87 

44. 

So may the nymphs, though thou despise them all, 
From burning thirst thee keep. 

To words I add my tears. Oh, read the scroll, 
And fancy how I weep. 

44. So may the nymphs. The wood and water nymphs. 



LETTER V. 
CENONE TO PARIS. 



Argument. 

Hecuba, wife of Priam king of Troy, just before the birth of her son 
Paris, dreamed that she brought forth a burning brand which set all 
Troy on fire. Priam, alarmed at this, consulted the oracle, and received 
for answer that the son to be born would cause the destruction of Troy. 
He immediately ordered that the infant should be destroyed as soon as 
it came to light. Now Hecuba, when delivered of her son, was moved by 
maternal affection, and privately sent the child to be nursed by the wife 
of one of the king's shepherds, giving him the name Paris. Grown up, 
and himself become a shepherd, he formed an attachment with the wood 
nymph (Enone, and married her. After this, there occurred a contest 
of beauty among the three great goddesses Juno, Minerva, and Venus, 
who had found a golden apple bearing this inscription : To the most 
beautiful. Their dispute was by Jupiter referred to Paris for judgment. 
The three goddesses, escorted by Mercury, appear before the young 
shepherd. Juno tries to bribe his favour by the offer of power, Minerva 
by that of skill in war. Venus offers him the most beautiful woman in 
the world, and to her he awards the apple. Paris, after this, is acknow- 
ledged by his father, Priam, returns home to Troy and soon prepares an 
expedition for Sparta, where he seduces and carries off the beautiful 
Helen, wife of King Menelaus, and conveys her to Troy. (Enone, at 
news of this, complains in the following letter of his perfidy to her, 
strives to convince Paris that the safety of his country, as well as his own 
honour, demand that Helen be sent back to the Greeks. 



1. 

Will Paris read? or will his bride object ? 

Read, Paris^ read it through. 
Though no Mysenian hand the words connect, 

They breathe a love too true. 

2. 

CEnone's in the Phrygian woods, thy spouse, 
Who fain would saj^ still thine. 

What god hath set his hate against our vows ? 
What fault, alas ! is mine ? 

1. The first two lines of the Latin are rendered by four. 
His bride. Helen. 

Mysenian, Grecian ; the city of Mysene denoting the country of Mene- 
laus and Agamemnon. 



CENONE TO PARIS. S9 



3. 



Ills merited we bear, and in good part, 

No pain unjust is mild. 
I deigned accept your humbly proffered heart, 

A stately river's child. 

4. 

Priamides though now, poor servant then, 

A nymph descends to wed. 
How oft as shepherds in the shady glen 

Lay we, turf-carpeted ! 

5. 

Or when, hoar frost surprising us afield, 

We sought the lowly roof, 
Who taught what coverts hold the game con- 
cealed ? 

Where wolf-cubs lodge aloof? 

6. 

Your mate in craft, the copse with springes lined, 
Or coursing through the glade. 

Oft now I read, ensculped on beachen rind, 
CEnone, by your blade. 



And, with the trunk, QEnone's name expands : 

Oh tree, the fruit retain ! 
There is a poplar, by a brook it stands. 

Memorial of the twain ; 



3. A stately river's child. The nymph (Enone was daughter of the 
river-god Cebrenus. 

4. Priamides though now. Though you are now called Priamides or 
son of Priam. This mark of nobility Paris could not bear till he became 
the king's acknowledged son. 

Lay ice. Have we lain. 

6. Your mate in craft. Wood-craft, sporting. 

7. Tlie fruit. The writing. 



40 GENONE TO PARIS. 



Its ample trunk, rooted at water's edge, 

This distichon doth show : 
When Paris lives false to (Enones pledge 

May Xanthus upward flow ! 

9. 

Back, Xanthus, back ! thy waters homeward roll : 

Paris is false and lives ! 
That day declared my fate ; then felt my soul 

The chill suspicion gives, 

10. 

When Juno, Venus, and, more decent armed, 

Minerve unveiled to thee. 
Oh my poor heart ! no blood its arteries warmed 

Once told the mystery. 

11. 

Frighted, our aged men and wives I ask ; 

All deem the omen curst. 
Soon firs are hewn, keels laid, and, done the task, 

Launches the billows burst. 

12. 

Parting you wept, — real tears, you can't deny ; 

Mean love ! now more than past ! 
You wept and saw my own o'erteeming eye : 

Our mingled grief flowed fast. 



8. Xanthus, a renowned river near Troy. 

10. Wlien Juno, Venus, and- Minerva unveiled to thee. Exposed their 
naked beauties to your judgment, as mentioned in the Argument. 
Minerva, she adds, was more decent when clad in armour. 

11. Soon firs are hewn, to prepare a fleet for the departure of Paris for 
Lacedscmon. 

12. Mean love, the love of me you now deem mean. 

Long as in sight. As long as your vessel remains in sight. 



CENONE TO PARIS. 41 

13. 

Less clings the parasital vine to the staff 

Than you my neck entwine. 
Eating foul wind, you made the seamen laugh : 

The wind was most benign. 

14. 

How oft returned, one more last kiss to win ! 

How faint you gasped " Adieu V 
Flutters the sail in fine ; the oars dash in ; 

You glide the waters through. 

15. 

Long as in sights unswerving rests my eye : 

Its tears the shingle wet. 
I pray the Nereids your return be nigh ; 

Nigh ! ay, to my regret ! 

16. 

You come then for a stranger, not for me ? 

Alas, and of what kind ? — 
There is a peak overlooks the open sea, 

Breaking the flood behind : 

17. 

Thence first I recognise your sail, and now 

To plunge me in am prone ; 
Meanwhile there shines a purple on your prow, 

A purple not your own ! 

18. 

Nearing, they slacken sail and strike the shore : 

Ye gods ! a woman's face ! 
Nor that enough, my madness will see more : 

She clings to your embrace ! 

15. Xereids. Sea goddesses, daughters of Xereus and Doris. 
17. Pin~ple, tint colour denoting nobility. 



42 CENONE TO PARIS, 

19. 

Twas tlien I beat my breast, and with my nail 

Furrov/d my deluged cheek ; 
Filled holy Ida with phrenetic wail ; 

Then my lone cave I seek. 

20. 

So Helen weep, deserted by her friend ! 

Who bring the ill should bear : 
Well fit you such as o'er the ocean wend 

Leaving at home despair. 

21. 

GEnone, yon then poor, the herds who drove, 
Was sole the poor man's spouse. 

Wealth, fame she prizes not ; nor does it move 
To be of Priam's house. 

22. 

Not that old Priam would a nymph reject, 

Nor Hecuba despise : 
GEnone, a great matron once elect, 

Her mien needs no disguise. 

23. 

Nor for that under elms we lay, retrude 

One fit for purple bed. 
Briefly, with whom no war ensues but good, 

Averting public dread. 

19. Holy Ida. Mount Ida ; holy, as being often visited by the gods, 
and more particularly for the ceremonies there performed to Cybele. 

20. So Helen iceep. So may Helen weep. 

Leaving at home despair. Helen has deserted Menelaus, and Paris 
(Enone, both disconsolate. 

22. Not that old Priam would a nymph reject. The nymphs belong- 
ing to the class of immortals were deemed to confer high honour in 
espousing a simple terrestrial. 

23. Averting public dread. The news being already known that all 
Greece was in arms. 



CENONE TO PARIS. 43 



24. 



The fugitive is claimed with hostile arms : 
Proud dowry for your couch ! 

She must to Greece again with all her charms. 
Ask Hector : hell avouch. 

25. 

What saith Antenor ? What doth Priam say ? 

Their age men use to trust. 
A sorry match with Menelas you play ; 

Shameful your cause, his just ! 

26. 

Nor deem Lacoena faithful, if you are wise, 

So prompt with you to fly. 
Loud as the husband now dishonour cries, 

As loudly you will cry. 

27. 

Cureless to art is wounded chastity : 

Pudour once soiled is dead. 
Atrides, whom she loved precedently, 

Enjoys a lonely bed. 

28. 

Andromache in Hector bless' d I call : 

Myself were of her kind. 
Thou, lighter than the leaves which sapless fall, 

Art blown with every wind. 



25. Antenor, a Trojan prince, then old, who was for restoring Helen to 
the Greeks. 

Shameful your cause. Yonr cause being shameful, his cause being 
just. 

26. Lacoena, the Laconian Helen. 

28. Andromache, the wife of Hector, a model, like Penelope, of the 
good and faithful spouse. 



44j (ENONE TO PARIS. 

29. 

More forceless thou than ears of corn which hang 

Siccate in tepid air. 
Remember how inspired Cassandra sang, 

All floating loose her hair : 

30. 

" What dost, GEnone, sowing in the sand ? 

" Ploughing an arid plain ? 
" The Grecian heifer will destroy this land, 

a Gods, avert Ilion's bane I" 

31. 

" Immerge her filthy vessel in the wave ! 

" Woes, woes o'er Troy impend ! " 
They bare her off, unceasing still to rave: 

My hair stood up on end. 

32. 

Too true Cassandra's prophecy to me : 

Heifer my grove hath reft. 
Yet she's a harlot, lovely as she be : 

For him her gods are left. 

, 33. 

One Theseus, which it was I little wot, 
Bore her away, and strove, — 

Could he without success, so young and hot ? — 
Where learnt I this ? — I love. 



29. Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was a prophetess, 
and deemed half mad. 

30. The Grecian heifer, Heleon of Sparta. 

32. Heifer my grove hath reft. The heifer, Helen, has destroyed the 
peace of my grove, bereft me of my peace of mind. 
For him her gods, her household gods ; her home. 



(ENONE TO PARIS. 45 

U. 

'Twas force, veiling the fault, you wish to say. 

Oft rapt is willing rapt. 
CEnone true to her false lord will stay, 

In his own guise entrapp'd. 

35. 

Two Satyrs, I lay covert, nor in vain, 
Sought me with rapid stride : 

And fir-crowned Faunus too, along the chain 
Whose master peak is Ide. 

36. 

Troy's builder loved me, he for music famed : 

Tore him by force I fail : 
Yet struggling, at his face sore scratches aimed 

With rudely vengeful nail. 

37. 

Nor claimed or gold or gems on Cynthius' part : 

Shame were in such demand. 
He gave me knowledge in the healing art, 

Chirurgic skill of hand. 

38. 

Mine ev'ry herb and root the forests yield, 

For sanant virtue known. 
Alas, that love is by no medicine healed ! 

Art fails me : even my own. 



35. Fir-croicned Faunus. Faunus., like Pan, was reputed a chief 
among the Satyrs. 

36. Troy's builder. Apollo, who is said to have raised the walls of 
Troy by the harmony of his lyre. (See note 17, Letter I.) 

37. Cyniliius and Cynthia were names of Apollo and Diana, from 
Mount Cynthus in Delos, the place of their great temple, and seat of 
their mysteries. 



46 (ENONE TO PARIS. 

39. 

Pherseas, first in therapeutic love, 

Was stricken by my flame. 
Me earth nor heaven can sanity restore : 

No hope but in thy name. 

40. 

Thou canst : I merit. Oh, then stand between 

Despair and my poor breast. 
Thine I was once, now am, have ever been, 

And ever pray to rest. 

39. Pherceas, like Apollo, was expelled from lieaven by the wrath of 
Jupiter, and, like him, became a shepherd. He devoted himself to 
medicine, as Apollo to the fine arts in general. 



LETTER VI. 
HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 

Argument, 

Pelias, the son of Neptune by Tyro, a princess, afterwards married to 
Cretheus, king of Iolchos, usurped that throne at the death of the 
monarch to the exclusion of JEson, his half-brother, and the rightful 
heir as son of Cretheus. The new king was warned by an oracle, that 
he would be in danger of death if ever, in going to sacrifice to his 
father, he should meet a man barefoot. After a time, it happened that, 
going to perform this sacrifice, he met Jason, son of his half-brother 
iEson, and consequently presumptive heir to the throne of Iolchos, who 
had lost his shoes in the mud of the river Anaurus. Pelias then, mindful 
of the oracle, persuaded Jason to go to Colchos in quest of a certain 
golden fleece of magic virtue, and guarded in a supernatural manner, 
hoping that he would never return, since the enterprise was deemed 
too much for human strength. Jason, possessing magnanimous courage, 
willingly undertook the task. To that end he assembled a company of 
the most enterprising youth of Greece, and set out on a voyage, such 
as had never been attempted by the Greeks before. The fleet on its 
way brought up at Lemnos, where previously a tragedy had been done, 
similar to that of the daughters of Danaus : the women of the place 
had killed all the men. Our heroes were hospitably received by Hyp- 
sipyle, the queen, who from this general slaughter had saved her father, 
Thoas. Here the Argonauts remained two years ; formed connections 
with the women. Jason attached himself to Hypsipyle and married 
her. Roused at length by the complaints of some of his comrades, 
more active or less attached than himself, he resolved to depart, and 
set sail, leaving Hypsipyle pregnant. They arrived safe at Colchos the 
end of their voyage, where, by the art of Medea, a great sorceress, 
daughter of iEetes, king of the place, and who had fallen in love with 
him, Jason overcame all obstacles, a sleepless dragon, bulls breathing 
fire, and other dangers. He obtained, in fine, the golden > fleece, and 
sailed off with his prize, Medea herself abandoning all to accompany 
him. Hypsipyle, in this letter, indignant at Medea's coming, sarcas- 
tically congratulates Jason on his safe arrival, accuses him of having 
treacherously supplanted her by Medea, and ends by pronouncing her 
malediction on both of them. 



1, 

In Thessaly we hear your Argo moored, 
Rich with the golden fleece. 

Accept, if such may be ; a greeting word. 
Was't much to write me this ? 

1. In Thessaly, your native country. 



48 HYPSTPYLE TO JASON. 

2. 

For not returning as proposed, the wind 

Might feasibly not serve. 
Howe'er it blow, a word may be consigned : 

" All hail " we might deserve. 

3. 

Whence comes it fame is foremost to apprise 

Mars' oxen take the yoke ? 
That from seed cast grim warriors arise 

And fall by mutual stroke ? 

4. 

Whence that a dragon, guardian of a fleece, 

Was mastered by your act ? 
Oh ; could I set the hard of belief at ease, 

Saying, " He writes the fact." 

5. 

But wherefore of mere laxity complain ? 

Great is my task if thine. 
A murderess, by report, you entertain, 

In that bed plighted mine. 

6. 
Yet love is credulous : would men could saj r 
My husband false impeached. 

3. To apprise, to apprise me that, &c. 

4. Mars' oxen take the yoke. The conditions proposed by (Eiitcs for 
his rendering np the golden fleece were three : first, certain wild bulls 
sacred to Mars, and of preternatural power and fierceness, should be 
tamed and brought to the yoke ; second, that serpents' teeth were to be 
planted, from which armed men would arise to the destruction of the 
sower; and, lastly, that a dragon, immediate guardian of the fleece, 
and which never closed its eyes in sleep, should be surprised or 
destroyed. 

5. A murderess, by report, yoti entertain. This is Medea, mentioned 
in the Argument, and of whom more will be found in Letter XII., from 
her to Jason. In her flight from home to follow Jason she took with 
her a young brother, the boy Absyrtus ; but to arrest her father's 
pursuit, who was following closely, she killed the child, cut him to 
pieces, and strewed his limbs on the road. The eld. man's attention 
thus horridly occupied, she escaped to the fleet. 



HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 49 

A guest late come from an Hsemonian bay 
Had scarce our threshold reached : 

7. 
Instant, " How is my Jason ? " I inquire ; 

And, seeing his downcast eye, 
Reiterate, mad with ills that may transpire, 

" Lives he ? or must I die ? " 



" He lives/' quoth he. I make the speaker swear, 

Doubting his very vow. 
Appeased, then hear him all your acts declare ; 

As, how Mars' oxen plough : 

9. 

How serpents' eeth are sown for seed of life, 

And armed men enate : 
The earth-born race, extinct by civil strife, 

Fill their ephemeral fate. 

10. 

" The serpent slain," I cry, "is Jason well?" 
With hope and fear combined. 

In order, thus continuing still to tell, 
He shows your wavering mind. 

11. 

Where, where is plighted faith ? Where wedded 
Torch worthier funeral pile ! [vows ? 

Ours was no stealthy match good Juno knows ; 
Hymen approved the while. 

6. Hcemonian. Thcssalian, from Mount Hamius. 

10. He shows your wavering mind. Relates to me your amour with 
Medea. 

11. Torch worthier funeral pile. The flambeau being used in funeral 
processions as well as in marriage ceremonies. 

Hymen approved the while. That is, our marriage was performed 
with all due ceremony. 

C 



50 HYPSIP7LE TO JASON. 

12. 
Juno nor Hymen, but Erynnys brought 

Ill-omened torch to me. 
Would Argo I'd ne'er seen nor Argonaut, 

Or ne'er been seen of thee. 

13. 
Here was no ram in golden wool arrayed, 

Nor iEetes' palace here. 
I had resolved (but adverse fate betrayed) 

To drive your troop elsewhere. 

14. 
The wives of Lemnos well can overcome : 

"With them secure I lay. 
A stranger wins my heart, invades my home, 

Two summers there to stay : 

15. 

'Twas the third spring when, forced to take ship- 
Commingling tears with mine, [board, 

You said, " Hypsipyle, the Fates accord 
" Return, I'm ever thine. 

16. 
" Live that dear pledge, the solace of our soul, 

" We're parents of one fruit." 
This said, a flood of tears wound up the whole : 

Your parting grief was mute. 

17. 

Last you ascend the sacred vessel's side : 

The canvass holds the wind : 
The waters ceding, wider and more wide 

The space you leave behind. 

12. Juno nor Hymen, but Erynnys. Neither Juno nor Hymen, the 
protectors of marriage, were there, but Erynnys, the fury, to bring curse 
and misfortune. 

14. The toives of Lemnos tvell can overcome. Alluding to the deed 
mentioned in the Argument, when the women of that city killed their 
men. 



HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 51 

18. 
My bosom bathed in tears, I mount on high 

A turret^ in the hope 
To extend my view, and there through humid eye 

Obtain a wider scope. 

19. 
There utter prayers and vows with fear oblate, 

Now due to th' gods above. 
We pay ; Medea gets. Ah, cruel fate ! 

Offended, still to love ! 

20. 
Rich gifts we bring for losing you alive ; 

Burnt offerings 'gainst our peace. 
Surety was never mine, fearing you'd wive 

By iEson's act in Greece. 

21. 

Argos my dread, unlooked-for ill befell : 

A foreign trull my wound ! 
Beauty nor merit hers to win, but spell. 

Dire roots in magic ground ! 

22. 
She works to turn the struggling moon aside : 

Envelope Sol in gloom. 
Strong to bind waves, divert the flowing tide : 

Rocks before her give room. 

23. 

Wont all dishevelled in the tombs to stray, 

Bones at the pyre to pick. 
She moulds the effigy of those away, 

Pins in their heart to stick. 

19. We pay; Medea gets. I pay rich gifts in the temple, and of which 
Medea enjoys the advantage in possessing you, the object of my offerings 
and prayers. 

20. uEson. His father. 

21. A foreign trull. Medea. 

But spell. She works by incantation. 

22. To envelope Sol in gloom. To cover the sun with darkness. 

C 2 



52 HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 

24. 

And, horror ! love, which form and manners gain, 
She wins by herbs and sleight : 

And you can kiss and on her couch remain ? 
And sleep unscared the night ? 

25. 

Even like your bulls, she makes you bear the 

Or like your serpents tame. ty ^; 

That her vile name among his deeds be spoke, 
She 11 mar her lover's fame. 

26. 

Some Pelian chief her poisoning aid will quote, 

And suffrages obtain : 
Not Jason but Medea's wiles the coat 

O' th' golden bident gain. 

27. 
Alcimede approves not, nor your sire, 

Their daughter of the north. 
Let her up gelid Tanais inquire 

A match to suit her worth. 

28. 

Inconstant Jason, changeful as the air, 
How light your pledges weigh ! 

Mine you went hence ; mine you no longer are : 
The wife has had her day. 



26. Some Pelian chief. Some chief of the party of Pelias, who is your 
enemy, and provokes dangerous enterprises to get rid of you. 

The coat of the golden bident. See Letter XII. verse 2, a note on the 
golden fleece. 

27. Alcimede. Jason's mother. 

Their daughter of the north. Medea, whose country, Colchis, lies 
somewhat more north than Greece. 

Gelid Tanais. The river Tanais separates Asia from Europe, rises 
far in the north, and falls into the Euxine. The writer uses exaggera- 
tion in painting Medea's country as a wintry climate. 

So, to suit her worth, is bitter irony. 



HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 53 

29. 

Dost value birth ? high lineage to own ? 

Minos and Thoas mine ; 
And Bacchus, in whose Ariadne's crown 

Bright flames constellate shine. 

30. 

Lemnos my dower, a genial soil to till, 

Myself the boon augment. 
You are father, Jason ; oh rejoice, you still 

Made sweet the burden sent. 

31. 

Bless' d too in number : the dear birth is twain : 

Lucina graced desire. 
u Like whom ?" say you. They know not how to 

In all else like their sire. [feig 11 • 

32. 

They my ambassadors had near been sent : 

Medea barred their way. 
Medea, worse than step-dame, ever bent 

New horrors to assay. 

33. 

She who her brother's limbs abroad could strow, 

Would she my babies spare ? 
And yet with her, oh, mad by spells who grow, 

Hypsipyle's bed you share. 

29. Minos and Thoas mine. Thoas, her father, was the son of Ariadne 
and Bacchus. Ariadne, as we have seen, was Minos' daughter. 

Bright flames constellate shine. Bacchus is said to have given 
Ariadne a crown composed of brilliant stars, which after her death 
became the constellation known by the name of the Northern 
Crown. 

30. Lemnos my dowry. She now reigns as queen of Lemnos. 

31. Lucina. Daughter of Jupiter and Juno ; or, as some think, it is a 
name either of Juno herself or of Diana, since she presides over child- 
birth. 

32. Medea barred their way. The danger of Medea's wickedness was 
an obstacle to my sending them. 

33. She who her brother's limbs abroad could strow* See note 5. 



54 HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 

34. 

She hath a man impurely and by theft ; 

I holily possessed, 
She sold her father ; I saved mine : she left 

Her friends ; I Lemnian rest. 

35, 
Is 't slight, a jilt an honest wife betrays ? 

By crime deserves a man ? 
The Lemnian deed, Jason, I blame, not praise : 

Grief takes what arms it can. 

36. 

Suppose — ah, would it were ! — you both, here set 
Storm-driven within our bay, 

Hypsipyle and her twin offspring met : 
" Engulf me earth ! " you'd pray. 

37. 
Before us, wretch, what face your turn would 

What death were then your due ? [serve? 
Yet you were safe, not for that you deserve, 

But that we are meek for you. 

88. 
In strumpet-blood, though, both these hands I'd 

Your visage too, hell-bound. [dye ; 

Medea to Medea ! for, Jove on high 

Be just to justice found, 

34. She sold her father. By betraying to Jason the secrets of the 
golden fleece, and helping him with her magic. See verse 3. 

I saved mine. From the general murder at Lemnos, mentioned in 
the Argument. 
She left her friends. To follow Jason. 

35. The Lemnian deed. The murder of the men by the women, as 
noticed in the Argument. This act arose out of jealousy. Hypsipyle 
disapproves it, deeming it not to have had sufficient motive, yet palliates 
it as having arisen from grief, and brings it forward in order to show 
in the next verse what would be the due of Jason, who has given ample 
motive for revenge. 

37. You were. You would be. 

38. In strumpet-blood. In the blood of Medea. 

Hell-bound. You, Jason, who are bound by the hellish incantations 
of Medea. 

Medea to Medea. To Medea I would be a murderess like herself, and 
put her to death. 



HYPSIPYLE TO JASON. 55 



39. 



To what Hypsipyle wails she 11 be exposed, 

And dearly pay her theft. 
As I, wife, doubly mother^ am deposed, 

Be she alike bereft. 

40. 

Nor long to hold her gain, but, worse deprived, 

Bear far a banished life : 
Bad sister and bad daughter she has lived, 

Live she as bad a wife. 

41. 

Land, sea denied, the air let her assay, . 

Front-stained with murder red : 
These Thoas' daughter wronged shall ever pray : 

Curses on both your head. 

39 To what Hypsipyle wails she'll be exposed. To being deserted by 
Jason, a prophesy which the twelfth letter shows fulfilled, 



LETTER VII. 
DIDO TO .ENEAS. 

Argument. 

After the destruction of Troy, JEneas, the son of Venus and Anchises, 
having saved from the flames his household gods, his old father Anchises, 
and his son lulus (his wife Creusa being lost by the way), collected a 
fleet of twenty sail, and put to sea. Driven by tempests through many 
disasters along various coasts, he attained at length that of Africa, 
whither, according to Virgil's delightful anachronism, Dido, the daugh- 
ter of Belus king of Tyre, and widow of Sichoeus, priest of Hercules, 
had previously fled from the danger of her brother, the king Pygmalion, 
whose avarice had urged him to murder her husband in order to obtain 
possession of his vast wealth, and whose intentions towards herself were 
suspected. Here Dido had lately founded the city of Carthage. She 
received iEneas and his companions in distress with the largest hospi- 
tality; became deeply in love with the chief; and at length too liberal 
of her favours. The stay of the squadron prolonged itself indefinitely. 
"Warned, however, at length, by Mercury that Italy is the country allotted 
to him, iEneas prepares to follow his destiny, and seek the predicted 
shore. Dido, from whose enamoured soul no thought escapes, guesses his 
intention, and endeavours to dissuade him from carrying it into effect ; 
failing in this, she supplicates him at least to defer his departure a little 
longer. All her endeavours failing, she resolves to die, and addresses 
this last complaint to her lover that he may recognize in himself the 
cause of her desperate act. 



As the poor swan, fate-called, to Meander in vain 

Pours forth his dying lay, 
Elissa calls to thee ; hopeless of gain, 

To adverse gods we pray. 

2. 

Of honour, peace, and pudic shame bereft, 

Words lost we scathless bear. 
You surely go ; Dido as sure is left. 

Sails, oaths, are food for air. 

1. Elissa, another name of Dido. 

2. Words lost. Those which I now write. 



DIDO TO .ENEAS. 57 

3. 

Canvass and vows alike you give the wind 

For far- off Italy: 
My Carthage and her wealth no favour find, 

Nor throned security. 

4. 
You fly what 's done, seeking what 's yet to do. 

Seek ground ! 'Tis here your own. 
Find it elsewhere, who is to give it you ? 

Give ! to a chief unknown ! 



Another love, another Dido, calls, 

Another to deceive. 
When wilt a Carthage citadel and walls 

In Italy achieve ? 

6. 
Or be it done, let all to fortune turn, 

Where love like mine attain ? 
As a wax flambeau, sulphur-primed, to burn ? 

As incense in the fane ? 

7. 
./Eneas ever present to my thought ; 

iEneas night and day : 
But, deaf to favour^ were I not distraught 

He better were away. 

8. 
Yet I 'd not hurt him : rather work him bliss : 

Love has nor bound nor laws. 
Oh spare me, Venus ; his hard brother kiss : 

Make Cupid fend my cause. 

3. Nor throned security. Nor the secure throne of Carthage which I 
offer you finds any favour in your sight. 

6. Let all to fortune turn. Suppose all to turn out fortunately. 

8. His hard brother. Cupid, the god of Love, his brother, as being 
also the son of Venus, is always represented as enjoying the pain he 
inflicts. 

c 5 



58 DIDO TO ^NEAS. 

9. 

Grant him I love and still to love am fain : 

Let him my ache remove. 
Oh, blind ! the image flitted through my brain : 

Love-born, he 11 never love ! 

10. 

Of mountains he or rugged rocks enate, 

By savage tigers bred ; 
Or of that sea the winds now agitate, 

Whither anon he's led. 

11. 

Whither ! in winter ! Winter is my friend : 

How Eurus moves the flood ! 
What you might give, the gentler tempests lend, 

Oh, more than ocean rude ! 

12. 
Are we so dread, unjust, that, risking fate, 

O'er the wild sea you fly ? 
J Tis exercising a too costly hate 

If to lose me you die, 

13. 

The storm will cease, and Triton o'er the main 

His sea-blue coursers wheel. 
Oh, like the storm, be you appeased again : 

You will, if not of steel. 

14 

Trust to the waves, knowing what waves can do ! 

How had you never tried ? 
Even to smooth sea, who let their halser go 

A thousand ills abide. 

9. Grant him I love. Grant me possession of him whom I love. 
Love-bom. Being the son of Venus, Queen of Love. 

13. Triton, the son of Neptune. He had great power over the sea, and 
could at all times calm its waves. 

14. Hoiv had you never tried. What would bo your rashness, had you 
not the experience of danger ? 

TVho let their halser go. Those who, &c. 



DIDO TO JENEAS. 59 

15. 

Of oath-breakers the ocean 's to be feared : 

Rarely to treason good. 
Love treason too, for Venus came upreared 

From Cytherean flood. 

16. 

I fear to hurt who hurts ; the lost to lose ; 

A foe's misfortune dread. 
Live, live iEneas lost, we rather choose 

111 fate unmerited. 

17. 

Conceive a hurricane, your ship's distress : 
What image haunts your mind ? 

The subtle perjuries of your false address : 
Dido to death consigned. 

18. 

Your cheated consort's form before your eye, 
Blood-stained her vesture through. 

u Back ! back ! I have deserved it all/' you cry ; 
And deem each flash your due. 

19. 

Pause but a while for ocean's rage to cool : 

Safety is in delay. 
If not for my sake, pause for young Iule : 

One is enough to slay. 



15. From Cytherean flood. Prom the sea near the island of Cythera. 

16. I fear to hurt who hurts; the lost to lose. I fear to injure you who 
injure me. I fear to lose you who are lost to me already. 

A foe's misfortune dread. Yours, who by abandonment are become 
my enemy. 

JSneas lost. Lost to me. 

18. Your cheated consort. Myself. 

And deem each flash your due. And deem each flash of lightning 
directed against yourself. 



60 DIDO TO .ENEAS. 

20. 

What hath Ascanius, what your gods deserved, 

From fire escaped to drown ? 
But no ; you neither gods nor sire preserved, 

Borne from the blazing town. 

21. 

Invention all ; nor this your first essay, 

Nor we the first to moan. 
Where is the mother of lulus ? say : 

Missing. She walked alone. 

22. 

All this you told : me pity moved, and thence 

Your solace to my cost. 
No marvel now that for the gods' offence 

Seven years you 're tempest-toss'd. 

23. 

Here cast ashore, you find my port a home, 

A stranger yet in name. 
Would that the tenderer kindness ne'er had come, 

Or death with loss of fame ! 

24. 

Fatal that day, storm-driven, obliged to fly, 

When in the cave we sate. 
Voices were heard, then deemed the wood nymph's 

'Twas hell howling my fate. [cry : 

20. Ascanius. Another name of his son lulus. 
Gods. The images of his household gods. 

From fire escaped to drown. Escaped from burning Troy to be 
drowned by shipwreck. 

21. Where is the mother of lulus? iEncas, loaded with his father on 
his shoulders, led his son by the hand ; his wife Creusa followed behind, 
and at the end of their march was found missing. 

22. Your solace to my cost. Your solace, b} r my receiving you in hos- 
pitality : to my cost, since you gain my heart and abandon me. 

The gods' offence. She hints that ho must have got rid, of his wife, 
Creusa unfairly. 



DIDO TO .ENEAS, 61 

25. 

Oh pudour, to Sichaeus violate, 

Avenge ye on my breast ! 
In marble is Sichaeus consecrate, 

Him fleece and herbs invest. 

26. 

Four times was heard a call's familiar tone : 

" Elissa, come ! " it said. 
A little while and I will come, mine own ! 

Oh, call too long delayed ! 

27. 

Pardon, dear shade, a fault no mean desire : 

Let that avert my blame. 
Celestial born, who saved his gods and sire, 

Gave earnest of fair flame. 

28. 

If error be, 'tis venial, — plighted love ; 

A love not made to grieve. 
The lot which was, that lot again to prove, 

While we united live. 

29. 

Sichaeus in the fane of life bereft 

By his despoiler's hand, 
I fled, his ashes and my country left, 

Pursued throughout the land. 

25. Oh pudour, to Sichceus violate. Violated towards her late hus- 
band by her amour with JSneas. 

Him fleece and herbs invest. His statue in the tomb is decorated with 
wool and herbs. So, in Catholic countries, they still adorn tombs with 
flowers, 

26. A little while and I will come. Presently, by death, Sichseus, I will 
come. 

27. Celestial bom. ^Eneas being the son of Venus. 

28. The lot which was. My lot of happiness when your wife, Sichaeus. 
That lot again. Of happiness, were I to espouse ^Eneas. 

29. Sichceus in the fane of life bereft. Sichseus was stabbed by Pyg- 
malion in the temple of Hercules. 



62 DIDO TO JENEAs. 

30. 

Escaped the sword, seas crossed, domains we 
Traitor, to found for you. [bought, 

A city built, and walls extensive wrought, 
Envied the region through. 

31. 

War threats, we undertake our town's defence, 
Though scarce portcullis down : 

Unnumbered suitors vie, who take offence 
At a preferred unknown. 

32. 

Why not to black Iarba give me bound ? 

These hands are offered free. 
Or him who struck Sichseus his death wound : 

He'd do as much for me. 

33. 

Talk not of gods, foul touch awakes their wrath : 

They loath an impious hand. 
You saving from combustion, they were loth 

To quit the burning brand. 

34. 

Haply your Dido pregnant here you leave, 

In her your pledge innate. 
With mother's misery a son's achieve, 

The embryo of ill fate. 

35. 

Of our two destinies complete the sum, 
In one destruction found. 



31. A preferred unknown. Yourself, ./Eneas. 

32. Iarbas, a prince of Gctulia, in the interior of Africa. 

Or him who struck Slchceus his death wound. Or to him, her brother, 
Pygmalion. 
' 33. You saving. Were your hand to save them. 

They were loth. They would be loth. 



DIDO TO JENEAS. 63 

A god bids go ! would he 'd forbid to come, 
And tread the Punic ground. 

36. 

Led by a god, you drive with adverse wind 

An ever-changing way. 
Troy were less sought, though men her crenels 

Thick as in Hector's day. [lined, 

37. 
Not Simois stream attracts, but Tiber's shore, 

To settle there, a guest. 
And still the more you seek it flies the more : 

Found when long years need rest. 

38. 
Unhesitating make my realm your own, 

Pygmalion's wealth to bring. 
Happier that Ilium change to Punic town, 

And thou to Tyrian king. 

39. 
Is 't war you thirst ? or would lulus know 

Where honours are to seize ? 
We '11 find him enemies to overcome, 

Business of war or peace. 

40. 
By Yenus, Cupid, and those gods who are 

Companions of your way, 
Oh pity, — (so thrive all your fate who share ; 

So end your evil day ; 

35. A god bids go. Mercury, as mentioned in the Argument, urges his 
departure. Punic is another name for Carthaginian. 

37. Xot Simois stream attracts, but Tiber's shore. Not the land of 
Troy, but that of Italy, attracts you. 

Found. Which will perhaps be found. 

38. Pygmalion's wealth. Dido had brought with her much of the 
wealth not only of her late husband, Sichaeus, but also of her hostile 
brother, Pygmalion. 

Happier that Ilium change to Punic tor::;, 
And thou to Tyrian Icing. 
Ilium or Troy represents the fortunes of JSneas, Tyrian those of Dido, 
who came from Tyre. 
40. Gods companions. His household gods. 



6* DIDO TO AENEAS. 

41. 

So may Ascanius a bright course fulfil, 

Anchises peaceful sleeps- 
Pity my wretched house ; slave of your will, 

My fault 's to love and weep. 

42. 
No Phthian I nor no Mycenian : foe 

My sire nor husband were. 
To wed you shame ? "With j r ou but Dido go, 

No matter how nor where. 

43. 
Known are to me the waves on Afric's shore, 

By seasons safe their tide. 
When light winds serve you '11 ply both sail and 

Now forced in port to ride. [oar, 

44. 
Take me the weather to observe, 'twere best, 

Nor fear protracted stay. 
Your half-refitted fleet and men distressed 

Demand a brief delay. 

45. 
For my desert do this, or wave excuse, 

By my lost hope I ask : 
'Till the floods calm . . . and love . . . 'till time 

Teach sufferance : bitter task ! [and use 

46. 
If not, it is our mind with life to end : 

You 11 not be long severe. 
Note but our portrait while these lines are penned: 

Your Trojan blade lies here. 

41. Ascanius. His son, who afterwards received the name of lulus. 
Anchises, his father. 

No Phthian ; that is, no ally of Achilles. No Mycenian; that is, no 
ally of Agamemnon. 

42. To wed you shame 1 Are you ashamed to marry ? 



DIDO TO iENEAS. 65 

47. 

And tears fall down our cheek upon the blade 
That will in blood be stained. 

How apt the gift is to my purpose made ! 
A grave is cheaply gained. 

48. 

Nor this to my poor breast a primal wound : 

It knew love's cruel dart. 
Dear sister, you, in vain my fault who found, 

The last devoirs impart. 

49. 

Of good Sichasus on my tomb no word. 

These o'er my ashes stand : 
jEneas gave the motive and the sword ; 

She fell by her own hand. 



LETTER VIII. 
HERMIONE TO ORESTES. 

Argument/ 

Agamemnon, soon after his return from the Trojan war, was mur- 
dered by his queeirClyfcemnestra, and her lover iEgisthus, a cousin, in 
whose hands the chief had left the care of his government. Orestes, 
the prince royal, then a youth, would have shared the same fate, but 
he was warned by his sister Laodicea, and fled the country. As soon 
as he attained the first years of manhood he spread a report of his 
death ; returned privately, accompanied by his bosom friend Pylades ; 
and avenged his father, by killing both the queen and her paramour. 
This violent sacrifice of feeling to what he deemed his duty drove him 
mad. He was, however, restored to reason by Apollo himself, and absolved 
by the Areopagus. He had been early betrothed to his cousin Her- 
mione, daughter of his uncle Menelaus by the beautiful Helen, under 
the auspices of his maternal grandfather Tyndarus, to whose tutelage 
she had been confided by Menelaus during his absence in the Trojan 
war. Menelaus, ignorant of the engagement made by the grandfather, 
promised her also to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, and he, on his return 
from the war, took violent possession of her in spite of her previous 
engagement. Remaining, however, faithful to her first love, and even 
detesting Pyrrhus, she sends this letter privately to say to Orestes, that 
by a vigorous proceeding on his part she might be wrested from the 
hands of Pyrrhus, and repossessed by the preferred of her heart. This, 
in fact, soon afterwards took place, for Orestes killed Pyrrhus in the 
Temple of Apollo, and regained his Hermione, with whom, after an early 
life so tragically eventful, he lived in peace to a good old age. 



1. 

Hermione to Orestes, once allied 

Both as her lord and brother ; 

Now brother only, for she 's doomed a bride 
By violence to another. 

2. 

Pyrrhus, unbending as his iron sire, 
Keeps me within his door^ 

To lawless will opposing honest ire : 
Can feeble woman more ? 

1. The first stanza renders the two first lines of the Latin. 

2. His iron sire. The inflexible Achilles. 



HEKMIOKE TO ORESTES. 67 

3. 

" Pyrrhus, hold off," I sa y> "not friendless" I, 
" A wife's respect who claim." 

Deaf as the wind, he makes me onward hie, 
Calling Orestes' name. 

4 
Were Sparta taken. could one suffer more, 

Under barbarian thrall ? 
Andromache froin Greece less sufferance bore 

At her proud city's fall. 

5. 

Is your Hermione, Orestes, dear ? 

Lay hands upon your right. 
If for stolen cattle you would raise a spear, 

For consort sure you 'd fight. 

6, 
Think of my father, whose lost love to get 

"Was general cause of strife. 
Wronged and content had he sat down, even yet 

Helen were Paris' wife. 

7. 
Dream no battalions nor aggressive fleet : 

Come boldly in alone. 
Not that by war, if needed, 'twere unmeet 

For Love to claim his own. 

8. 
Have we not Atreus for our common sire ? 

I 'm cousin, if not spouse, 
Let wife her lord, let cousin cousin fire, 

Two calls your heat to rouse. 

3. A spouse's right iclio claim. Being betrothed to Orestes. 
Calling. Me calling on the name of Orestes. 

4. Andromache. The wife of Hector. 

6, Think of my father . Menelaus, the rape of whose wife, Helen, by 
Paris, caused the Trojan war. 

8. Have we not Atreus for our common 'sire. Her father, Menelaus, 
and his father, Agamemnon, were sons of Atreus. 



68 HERMIONE TO ORESTES. 

9. 

Our union made by Tyndarus, grave with age, 
O'er me fall power who bore, 

My father could not rightly disengage 
What his had bound before. 

10. 

We plighted, injuring no one by our love : 

Wed him, I break my vows. 
Good Menelas to pardon we shall move, 

For Cupid's dart he knows. 

11. 

Love like his own is little to demand ; 

Set Helen in his view. 
As she to him I to Orestes stand, 

Pyrrhus is Paris too. 

12. 

And though he endless boast his father's acts, 

Your sire's are on the roll. 
He ruled Achilles : one a part enacts, 

The other guides the whole. 

13. 

Your lineage too : Atreus from Pelops got : 

Of five from Jove you are one. 
Nor valourless : unhappy arms, but what ? 

A father set them on. 

i 

9. Tyndarus. Her maternal grandfather. 

His. His sire; by courtesy, however, since it indicates Tyndarus, 
her father's father-in-law. 

10. We plighted. Our faith to each other. 

For Cupid's dart he knows. Having been smitten with love for Helen. 

11. As she to him I to Orestes stand. She was his lawful wife ; I am 
betrothed to you. 

Pyrrhus is Paris. Paris robbed Menelaus of his lawful wife ; Pyrrhus 
keeps your betrothed by force. 

12. His father's acts. The deeds of Achilles. 
Your sire's. The deeds of Agamemnon. 

He nded Achilles. Being his commander-in-chief. 

13. Of jive from Jove you are one. Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who 
was son of Atreus the son of Pelops, who was son of Tantalus, begotten 
of Jove.— Unhappy arms. The necessity of revenging on his own 



HERMTONE TO ORESTES. 69 

14. 

Would in more glorious cause you had been led, 
But forced who could do more ? 

Your work complete, for where Atrides bled 
Gushed forth iEgisthus' gore. 

15. 

iEacides your praise to crime would wrest, 

And that before my face. 
Lie still, poor heart, within this suffering breast, 

O'er swoll'n with foul disgrace. 

16. 

Orestes 'fore Hermione to blame ! 

And she nor strength nor sword ! 
Weep well she may, in tears immerse her shame : 

How on my breast they poured ! 

17. 

Tears only left and amply they are shed, 

An unremitting flood. 
Our race's curse even yet unlimited : 

Tantalian loves run rude. 

18. 

Need one repeat, the plumage of the swan 

Made amorous Jove's attire ? 
The Elis chariot race, where Pelops won 

And wore Hippodamia ? 



mother the murder of his father. — A father set them on. That is, your 
father's murder caused you to take arms. 

14. Your' work complete. Full and complete vengeance being taken. 
yEgisthus. Mentioned at the beginning of the Argument. 

15. jEacides. Pyrrhus, descendant of iEachus, in the order iEachus, 
Peleus, Achilles, Pyrrhus. 

To crime would ivrest. Would construe into a crime. 

17. Tantalian loves run rude. The following lines show that the 
women of Tantalus' line fell a prey to violence in love. 

18. The plumage of the swan. According to the fable, Jupiter, to 
obtain the favours of Leda, assumed the form of a swan. — The Elis 
chariot race. iEnomaus, king of Pisa and JElis, betted on a chariot 



70 HERMIONE TO ORESTES. 

19. 

How Pollux and how Castor once again 

Helen to Sparte restored ? 
How, Helen stolen by the Idean swain, 

Our Greece for vengeance roared ? 

20. 

The memory 's faint, but there our woe begins : 

All seemed afraid to move : 
Tyndarus and Phoebe wept, so did the twins : 

Leda invoked her Jove. 

21. 

I, wearing then long infant curls, out scream, 
" Mamma gone without me ! " 

In fine, lest not of Pelops' race we seem, 
Pyrrhus my lord must be. 

22. 

Oh, had Pelides 'scaped the fatal bow, 

His son in awe to keep ! 
Alive he would not, no, nor would he now, 

Let wedded husband weep. 

race his daughter Hippodarnia against the life of his opponent, Pelops. 
Now as the king drove by proxy, and Pelops was his own whip, the latter 
had an opportunity of practising a means not yet quite obsolete : he 
bribed the king's coachy, and won. It will be observed that this is 
another Hippodarnia than the lady who was cause of the battle of the 
Centaurs, noted Letter II., verse 18 ; the latter was daughter of Adrastus, 
king of Argolis. 

19. How Pollux and how Castor. Helen, whose beauty had renown even 
in her childhood, was at ten years old carried off and kept concealed by 
Theseus, but safely restored by him to her brothers, Castor and Pollux. 

The Idean swain. Paris, who, as we have seen, was bred a shepherd 
on Mount Ida. 

20. There our woe begins. There began woe to Grecian families, the 
Trojan war then breaking out. 

Phoebe. Her aunt, a sister of Helen. 

Leda. Mother of Helen and the twins, Castor and Pollux. 

21. Lest not of Pelops* race we seem. She has already shown that the 
women descending from Tantalus, the father of Pelops, were doomed to 
violence, and affirms that she is no exception, since Pyrrhus, in whose 
power she remains, is capable of it to a great degree. 

22. Oh had Pelides 'scaped the fatal bow. Would that his father, 
Achilles, had escaped the fatal arrow of Paris, which killed \\\w,—Let 



HERMIONE TO ORESTES. *71 

23. 

What wrong of mine hath made the gods unfair ? 

What star malign hath crossed ? 
Ledsea gone, my sire the corslet bare, 

To me both parents lost. 

24. 

In infancy no kiss, no soft caress, 

Mother, you gave to me. 
Ne'er to your bosom wont my cheek to press, 

While fondled on your knee. 

25. 

My school cost you no thought : engaged to wed, 

My couch gave you no care. 
We met at length, and, if the truth be said, 

I knew not which you were. 

26. 

Yet singled Helen out, so beauties shine : 
" Which is my girl V 3 you ask. — -\ 

One shade of comfort still : Orestes mine : 
But as he fill his task. 

27/ 

Pyrrhus for rape, contra my sire contends : 

First cause of both was Troy. 
While Titan's radiant car its circle wends, 

Some respite I enjoy. 



wedded husband weep. Since he took arms among the Greeks to redress 
the wrong done to my father, Menelans, were he alive, he would oppose 
the same wrong being done to you. 

23. Ledcea gone, my sire the corslet have. My mother Helen eloped; 
my father at the war. 

26. But as he fill his task. His duty, which is to assert his right, and 
get me out of the hands of Pyrrhus. 

27. Pyrrhus for rape, contra my sire contends. Pyrrhus strives to 
exercise violence on me : my father took arms against Paris' abduction 
of Helen. 

Wliile Titan's radiant car its circle wends. That is, during the day, 
Titan being a name given to the sun. 



72 HERMIONE TO ORESTES. 

28. 

But plenteous tears and sobs come with the night, 

On tristful couch reclined, 
When weary hours in vain to sleep invite, 

And no retreat to find. 

29. 

Oft stupid in forgetfulness I sink, 

And reach his cumbent side : 
Recoiling from the contact farther shrink, 

Nor the loathed touch abide. 

30. 

For Pyrrhus' oft Orestes' name If ve said : 

Such faults my grief allay. 
Now by our race I swear, and by its head, 

Whom land and sea obey, 

31. 

By thy great father's dust, which owes to thee 

Revenge for murdered life, 
Extinct in youth will I, Tantalian, be, 

Or be Tantalian's wife. 



30. Now by our race. One of the most abundant in matter for tragedy. 
By its head. The head of that family was Jupiter himself, the father 

of Tantalus. 

31. Extinct in youth will I, Tantalian, be. 

Or be Tantallan's wife. 
I who am descended from Tantalus will die young, or be the wife of 
you who are also descended from Tantalus. 



LETTER IX. 
DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 

Argument. 

Hercules was the son of Jupiter by Alcmena, daughter of Electryon 
king of Argos. Alcmena had been given in marriage to Arnpyhtrion, a 
prince of Thebes, under condition that he should not enter into enjoy- 
ment of his bride till he had gained a decisive victory over the king's 
enemies. Jupiter then, smitten with the beauty of the wife, during the 
husband's absence on an expedition, assumed his form, presented him- 
self as just returned from victory, and was received as a loving husband 
ought to be. Juno was moved to jealousy by this intrigue, and bore 
malice to Hercules throughout his earthly career. She excited Eurys- 
theus king of Mycenae to propose to his daring spirit many arduous 
and perilous labours, under the hope that he would perish in performing 
them, but, on the contrary, he returned victorious from all. Strong, 
however, against men and monsters, he gave way to love, and abandoned 
himself to all its excesses. Before his great undertaking of the tasks 
proposed by Eurystheus he had married Dejauira, daughter of JEneus 
king of Calydon, and his wife addresses this letter to him to shame him 
from the excesses to which he is abandoning himself, exposing par- 
ticularly his amour with Omphale queen of Lydia, and the last of his 
loves, that of Iole princess of iEchalia. She sets before his view the ' 
glorious actions of his life, that by their scale he may estimate his 
present conduct and reform it. While writing, however, she receives 
news of Hercules' calamity ; his death being caused by a poisoned timic 
guilefully given to her by the centaur Nessus, who, in the act of carrying 
her violently away, was reached and mortally wounded by Hercules' 
arrow. The dying centaur gave Dejauira the poisoned tunic, affirming 
that if her husband wore it he would remain ever true to her. In con- 
sequence of Hercules' late irregularities she sent it in the hope of 
reclaiming him, and the consequence was his death. Overwhelmed then 
with extreme grief, she ponders on the manner of expiating her fault 
and resolves, in fine, to hang herself. 



1. 

CEchalta to your titles joined we greet, 
The vanquished victor grieve. 

Our states with ugly whispers are replete, 
Marring all you achieve. 

1. (Echalia. It is uncertain which country of the name is here 
indicated, its king, Eurytus, however, offered his daughter lole to 
whoever should beat him in archery. Hercules won the fair prize, and 
the king refused to fulfil his engagement. The hero then made war on 
him, conquered (Echalia, killed King Eurytus, and obtained possession 
of his daughter Iole, of whom he became violently enamoured. 

The vanquished victor. Vanquished by the charms of Iole ; hence the 
condolence mixed with Dejanira's felicitations. 

Ugly whispers. Concerning the effeminacy of his present life. 

D 



74 DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 



Whom Juno nor unheard of labours bent, 

Him Iole enchains. 
Eurystheus and the goddess are content : 

Your losses make her gains. 

3. 

But he will blame to whom did not suffice 
One day to form your mould. 

Fear Venus ; for of Juno's hate your rise : 
Love downward tends to hold. 

4. 

Look back, and see coerced to peace all lands 

In Neleus' girdle pressed. 
This bruited forth to every coast expands 

Your name from east to west, 



You have sustained those heavens whereto you 
Assuming Atlas' place : [tend, 

Unhappily notorious in the end, 
If fame turn to disgrace. 

6. 

Infant, two horrid snakes you 're said to crush : 

In the cradle worthy Jove ! 
Beware the man, degenerate, fall to blush, 

Seeing the child above. 

2. The goddess. Juno. 

3. But he. Jupiter. 

4. In Neleus' girdle. Within the limits of the sea. 

5. Assuming Atlas' place. Atlas either took his name from the moun- 
tain in Africa or the mountain from him. He was of the race of the 
Titan giants, king of Mauritania, and said to bear the heavens on his 
shoulders. This may be attributed to the height of the mountain, but 
it is more generally thought to have arisen from his love of astronomy. 
Hercules is said to have borne his load for one day, probably from 
having taken part in his studies. 

6. Beivare the man degenerate. Beware lest you, a man, blush to 
consider that you were more illustrious when a child. 



DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 75 

7. 
Whom neither monsters, nor Eurystheus' hate, 

Nor Juno, Love brings down. 
Yet nobly matched is Hercules' co-mate ! 

Whom Jupiter must own ! 

8. 

Unequal steers but ill endure the yoke : 

So couples widely matched. 
Disparity will discontent provoke, 

While equals live attached. 



A husband far away, in arduous quest 

Of labours frightful all : 
My widowed .prayers the gods solicit, lest 

By some dread foe he fall. 

10. 

Now serpents, boars, and lions my only theme, 

And dogs of triple throat. 
I study entrails and the nightly dream, 

Omens of mystic note. 

11. 

The whispers of uncertain fame I Ve seized, 
Tossed between hope and fear. 

Your exiled mother grieves the god to have 
Father nor Hyllus here. [pleased, 



7. Whom neither monsters, nor Eurystheus' hate, nor Juno, Love 
brings down. You, whose glorious career no danger nor difficulty raised 
by the hatred of Eurystheus and Juno could arrest, give way to love. 

' Yet nobly matched Ironically ; in the face of all these wrongs 

it is a fine thing to be Hercules' wife and owned by Jupiter as a 
daughter ! 

9. My widowed prayers. Widow by her husband's absence. 

11. Tossed as I am. 

The god. Jupiter. 

Father nor Hyllus. Neither your father, Amphytrion, nor our son, 
Hyllus. 

D 2 



76 DEJANIEA TO HEECULES. 

12. 

We feel Eurystheus heavy on us weigh, 

Dispensing Juno's ire : 
Nor that enough ; your love runs far astray, 

Full feasting hot desire. 

13. 
Not to name Auge's rape in Parthenus' vales, 

Astydamia's too ; 
Of Thespius' fifty daughters similar tales : 

All this is slight to you. 

14. 

But one, a later crime usurps our bans : 

From her a step-son born. 
Meander serpentining through the lands, 

In all directions borne, 

15. 

Saw ribboned amulets that throat infold, 

That heaven-sustaining neck ! 
Nor Her'cles blushed to adorn his thews with 

His brawn with gems to deck ! [gold : 

13. Not to name Auge's rape in Parthcmis' vales. Auge was daughter 
of Alcus king of Arcadia, in which country Mount Parthenus is situated. 

Astydamia. Violated because her father, Ormenus king of Thessaly, 
refused her in marriage to Hercules, as knowing him to be married 
already to Dejanira. 

Of Thespius' fifty daughters. Thcspius was an Athenian king. The 
number of fifty children occurs frequently in these remote histories ; 
probably that number was used to express a large number indefinitely, 
as our hundred, score. 

14. A later crime usurps our bans. Encroaches on our marriage rights. 
She alludes to Omphale, a queen of Lydia, in Asia Minor, who bought 
Hercules when the oracle had pronounced that he must be three years ■ 
a slave for having in a fit of insanity attempted to carry away the 
sacred tripod from the temple at Delphi. An attachment, however, 
soon grew between the queen and her slave. She gave him his liberty, 
made him her received lover, and the authority she exercised over him, 
and the effeminate works to which he submitted under her, form the 
subject of the sixteen following verses. 

From her a step-son born. Omphale's son by Hercules was named 
Lamus. 

Meander, or Meandros, is a celebrated river in Lydia, remarkable for 
its numerous windings, whence the tortuosities of streams are called 
meanders. 

15. That heaven-sustaining neck. When, as above mentioned, he took 
Atlas' place in supporting the heavens. 



DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 77 

16. 
An arm which strangled dead the Nemean pest ! 

Whose spoil those shoulders wear : 
See but that shaggy head in mitra dressed ! 

Comelier its aspen there, 

17. 

Is 3 t no disgrace about your loins the zone 

A Lydian strumpet wears ? 
You by whom bloody Diomed was thrown 

To his carnivorous mares ! 

18. 
Busiris, had he seen your glories' wreck, 

Were of his fall ashamed : 
Antaeus would denude your bawbled neck 5 

Lest with it he be named. 

19. 

Among the maidens, supple to command, 

The work-basket you hold : 
Nor shames Alcides' all-victorious hand 

At maidens' work we 're told. 

16. The Nemean pest. This was a tremendous lion, said to be born of 
the hundred-headed Typhon, which afflicted the country of Nernaea. 
Hercules at the age of sixteen, as they relate, encountered it unarmed, 
and choked it by straining its jaws open with his bare hands. 

In mitra dressed. This is a woman's ornament for the head, used in 
Phrygia and Lydia. 

Comelier its aspen there. Alluding to Hercules' expedition to the 
infernal regions, on which occasion he wore a crown of aspen leaves. 
The tree afterwards became sacred to him. 

17. Bloody Diomed. A king of Thrace, who fed his horses on human 
flesh. Hercules killed him, and threw his body as provender to his 
own stud. 

18. Busiris. An Egyptian tyrant, who sacrificed foreigners on the altar 
of Jupiter. Hercules was in his power, bound hand and foot for that 
purpose, but the hero snapped his bonds and killed the tyrant, with 
many of his courtiers, then offered his body on the altar prepared, for 
himself. 

Antceus. A giant, son of Terra, the earth, who killed so many oppo- 
nents in wrestling that he vaunted to build a temple with their skulls ; 
but this unvaried success was owing to his nerves being constantly 
revigorated by his mother Terra. Our hero tried a bout with him, 
and to set the giant beyond mamma's reach he lifted him from the 
ground and throttled him in the air. 

19. Alcides. A patronymic appellation of Hercules, from Alcaeus, the 
father of Amphytrion, his mother's husband. 



78 DEJANIKA TO HEKCULES. 

20. 

'Twill even spin, drawing uneven thread, 

The fair one's task to pay. 
How oft in doing hath its awkward speed 

Broken the ball away ? 

21, 

Poor bungler, you'll be thought to endure the 
And stoop the head, and crouch : [thong, 

Yet vaunt j^ou of high deed, right worthy song, 
T were bettev not avouch. 

22. 

To wit : that, yet a cradled infant, you 
Two serpents choked and tore : 

On Erymanthus, cypress crown'd, you slew 
The vast Tegaean boar : 

23. 

Of heads on Thracian hall you say your word : 

Mares anthropophagous : 
Of triple Geryon, rich in flock and herd, 

Monster tricephalous : 

24 

And Cerberus, the triple dog in one, 

Whose hair immix'd with snakes : 

The serpent, too, by every loss who won : 
A lopp'd head double makes. 

22. Erymanthus. A mountain in Arcadia, 
Teg cecm. Arcadian ; from the town of Tega?a. 

23. Of heads on Thracian hall. The palace of the cruel Diomed, 
mentioned verse 17, who caused to be hung against his wall, as trophies, 
the heads of the human bodies on which he fed his horses. 

Geryon, monster tricephalous. Geryon king of Gades, a prince ex- 
ceeding rich in herds, had, according to fable, three heads and three 
bodies. This image is supposed to have arisen from a triplicity of cir- 
cumstances; he ruled three kingdoms, had three sons, and three armies 
under their command. Hercules having killed him had all his cattle 
conveyed to Italy. 

24. Cerberus. The three-headed dog which guards the gate of hell. 
Hercules mastered him, and brought him up to earth, after having 



DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 79 

25. 

The giant choking in the air, whose head 

With blood to bursting fills : 
The centaurs felled, whose timid remnant fled 

To their Thessalian hills:— 

26. 

These you can tell, in Tyrian purple dressed. 

For shame ! the subject waive: 
And she, with club and lion-spoil invest, 

Holds trophies of her slave. 

27. 
Proceed: take heart: more prowess to recall: 

Not you the man, but she. 
Of all the fallen your own the greatest fall, 

Stationed more loftily. 

28. 
Be hers the guerdon of your arduous fame : 

She is your exploits' heir : 
The Nemean lion's shaggy hide, oh shame ! 

A puppet minx to wear ! 

29. 
Nay, more than lion-spoils repay her charms, 
Yours, Hercles, are her gain : 

succeeded in his enterprise to the infernal regions in search of the 
apples of the Hesperides. 

The serpent, too, by every loss who icon. The hydra of Lyrna, said to 
have had many heads, each of which being cut off was replaced by two. 

25. The giant choking in the air. Antaeus, mentioned note IS. 

TJie centaurs felled. The centaurs, and a company of the people 
called Lapitha?, to whom Theseus and Hercules belong, were invited to 
the marriage feast of Pirithous and Hippodamia. The centaurs, in their 
cups, were rude to the women, which was resented by the party of the 
Lapitha?; hence a general battle in which the centaurs were worsted, 
and Hercules afterwards nearly extirpated them. 

26. Club and lion spoils. These are the usual insignia of Hercules- 
His favourite weapon was a massy club, and his cloak the skin of the 
Kemean lion, mentioned verse 16. 

29. Yours, Hercules, are her gain. Since you are become her prisoner, 
bound in love. 

Black with the Lemean bane, Dipped in the poison of the Lernsean 
hydra. 



80 BEJANIBA TO HERCULES. 

A feeble strumpet bears terrific arms, 
Black with the Lernean bane ! 

30. 
Poising the club by which huge monsters fell, 

To th' glass the plaything goes. 
Yet hearsay this : less dolorous ills they tell : 

What '$ seen perforce one knows. 

31. . - 

A newer gawd is set before my sight ; 

My suffering clear as day. 
Ignore I cannot, for in open light 

She stands full in my way. 

32. 

Not like a captive with dishevelled hair, 

Veiling a visage sad ; 
But bold, erect, with vest of richest wear, 

As you in Phrygia had, 

33. 

She looks sublime, on conquered Hercles' arm : 

CEchalia won you 'd swear. 
Retreat but Dejauira with alarm, 

The trull to spouse you rear. 

34 
Alcid' and Iole in one love chain 

United ne'er to part ! 
The warning thrills with horror through my 

Hold, hold offended heart ! [brain : 

30. Less dolorous ills they tell. Ills which are related to us are less 
felt than those which we see, and therefore must believe. 

31. A newer gawd. This is Idle, mentioned in note 1, on CEchalia. 

32. Not like a captive. We have seen in the same note 1, that Her- 
cules besieged her city, CEchalia, slew her father, and carried her oil as a 
prisoner. 

As you in Phrygia had. When he was at the court of Omphnle, who 
has formed the subject of the preceding- verses. Phrygia was then re- 
markable for magnificence, 

33. CEchalia won. You would think that I61e\s city, CEchalia, had 
resisted the siege, instead of being taken and ruined. 

Retreat but Dejauira, If I, Dejauira, do but quit the place. 



DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 81 

35. 

Me in the crowd you loved, but without shame : 

Twice causing deadly fight. 
First Acheloiis in the marshy slime 

Hid his horn-broken plight, 

36. 
Then centaur Nessus at the Evenus fell : 

The river bore the stain. 

Ha ! what's that rumour ? — Horrid news they 

By Nessus' fraud he 's slain ! [tell, — 

37. 
What have I done ? in madness whither borne ? 

Die, Dejanira, die ! 
By thee thy lord on (Eta's side is torn : 

Thou clid'st his destiny. 

38. 
Is Dejanira fitly Hercles' spouse ? 

Her end shall testify. 
See her, (Enides, worthy of our house ! 

Die, Dejanira, die ! 

35. First Acheloiis in the marshy slime 

Hid his horn-broken plight. 

Acheloiis, tlie son of Oceanus and of Terra or of Tethys, was god of the 
river so called, in Epirus. He had obtained from his mother the power, 
when engaged in fight, of assuming any living form he pleased. Being 
one of the numerous competitors for the hand of Dejanira, whose father 
would give her to the strongest, he had to contest the prize with Her- 
cules, and used the mutative power with which lie was endowed : first he 
assumed the form of a serpent, then of a bull, under which phasis 
Hercules seized him by the horn and broke it short, whence the beaten 
river god withdrew with shame to his marshes, 

Then centaur Nessus By Nessus' fraud he 's slain. The centaur 

was entrusted by Hercules to convey his wife over the river Evenus, 
and having got across was proceeding to extort favours by violence, but 
Hercules, who saw him from the opposite bank, let fly an arrow and 
wounded him mortally, for the dart, having been dipped in the blood of 
the hydra, was poisonous. The dying centaur then persuaded Dejanira 
to take his tunic, which, having been pierced, he knew to be infected 
with the poison, and to keep it as a talisman, having at all times the 
power, if Hercules wore it, of fixing his love to her. Dejanira, too cre- 
dulous, kept the tunic, and by the irregularities of her husband was led 
to wish to make trial of its efficacy, and hence the catastrophe. Her- 
cules, in torment with the effect of the poison, lighted his own funeral 
pile, and burnt himself to death. 

37. (Eta. A mountain in Thessaly. 

38. (Enides, see her. An invocation to her brother Meleager, the son of 
(Eneus, who is dead ; suggested by a certain similitude of their fates. 

D 5 



82 DEJANIRA TO HERCULES. 

39. 

Oh, fatal house ! Agrios usurps its throne ; 

Poor CEneus bends with age ; 
Tydeus, one brother, far in lands unknown ; 

A brand the other's gage, 

40. 

Which burnt, he fell : herself our mother slew. 

Die, Dejanira, die ! 
One thing be prayed : by sacred love — and true, 

Think none that it was I. 

41. 

" This blood/' quoth Nessus, writhing in his pain, 

" Faint love will vivify/' 
He gave — I sent the shirt imbued with bane. 

Die, Dejanira, die ! 

42. 

Now farewell, father, sister, all I prize, 

Brother, and country, too : 
And thou, oh day, the last to light these eyes, 

Hyllus and Lord, adieu ! 

His love for Atalanta caused his death, her love for Hercules will cause 
her own. On Meleager, see Letter III. verse 23. This name, (Enides, in 
Letter III. has by mistake been written with 2E instead of (E. 

39. Oh fatal house. CEneus, the father of Dejanira, was deposed from 
his throne by his brother Agrios, now reigning : Tydeus, one brother, 
on account of the accidental murder of a friend had lied to Argos, and 
remained there, and we have seen, Letter iii., verse 23, that a burning 
brand tvas the gage of the life of the other, Meleager. 

40. Herself our mother slew. See the same note on (Enides, Meleager. 

Die, Dejanira die I Our confined limit has forced this meager transla- 
tion of the beautiful line, Impia qnin dubitas Deianira mori, which is 
the more to be regretted, since the poet repeats it four times ; and 
again, that it has forced an equal recurrence of the same rhymes, which, 
when free, we invariably take care to avoid ; but to render the spirit of 
the author, it seemed indispensable to follow him as well as might be. 

Think none. Let no man think. 
42. Hyllus. Her son by Hercules. 



LETTER X. 
ARIADNE TO THESEUS. 

Argument. 

Minos, son of Jupiter and Europa, and king of Crete, in consequence 
of his son Androgeos having been assassinated at Athens by order of the 
Athenian king iEgeus, who was jealous of his fame and popularity as a 
wrestler, made war against that people, and, after a long and severe 
struggle, reduced them to accept severe terms of peace, namely, that 
they should send every year to Crete seven youths and seven virgins to 
be devoured by a monster, half man half bull, called Minotaur, which 
had been produced by the unnatural connection, during Minos' absence 
in this war, of his wife Pasiphae with a favourite white bull. The 
creature was kept in an inextricable labyrinth. When the lot fell on 
Theseus to make one of these youths, and his turn came to be exposed 
to the monster, he had gained the favour of Ariadne, one of Minos' 
daughters, who furnished him with a clew, by the help of which he 
might find his way out of the labyrinth if he should overcome the 
Minotaur, which he was fortunate enough to do. Theseus, this exploit 
achieved, made his escape, Ariadne and Phaedra, Minos' two daughters, 
consenting to be companions of his flight. Under consideration that he 
is to espouse Ariadne in gratitude for her having saved his life, they 
took ship, and made a port in the island of Xaxos, where, by the 
advice of the god Bacchus, instead of marrying he abandoned Ariadne 
and sailed, leaving her in a profound sleep. On waking she seeks her 
lover in vain, perceives his departure and her abandoned position, and 
addresses this letter to him, bewailing his cruel treatment of her, his 
forgetfulness of past service, and imploring him to return. We have 
seen in Letter IT., that Theseus, on reaching home, espoused the sister, 
Phaedra. 



1. 

Milder to me than Theseus wolves and boars ; 

Trustworthier than he. 
Theseus, these lines are written on these shores 

"Where you abandoned me. 

2. 

In somnolent oblivion left by you, 

traitor to my sleep ! 
Twas at the first congeal of morning dew, 

When birds lost autumn weep. 



84f ARIADNE TO THESEUS. 

3. 

Drowsy awaking, forth my arms I strain, 
O'er Theseus' neck to throw : 

He 'a gone : they back recoil ; — extend again : 
Is it a dream ? ah, no. 

4. 
Fear banished sleep : all trembling quick I rise, 

And leave the widowed bed, 
Holding my beating heart ; tears fill my eyes ; 

Bewildered my poor head. 

5. 
The moon shone bright ; I hasten to the coast : 

All vacant sea and strand ! 
Hurry now here, now there, my senses lost, 

O'er shingle, reef, and sand, 

6. 

Calling the way along: " Hola, Theseu ! M 

The hollow rocks reply : 
Their echoes verberate the sound anew, 

Aiding my frantic cry. 

7. 
There is a peak with stunted foliage rare, 

A pendant rock one side : 
Mounting, desire gave wings, to compass there 

A range of view more wide. 

8. 
I see, for even the cruel winds betrav, 

The fresh south fill your sail : 
Or fancying see, and, shuddering with dismay, 

My wounded spirits fail. 

9. 
Grief will not linger long - new roused I burn ; 

Re-halloo to the wind, 
" Theseus, oh, whither fliest ? Theseus, return, 

" You 're leaving one behind." 



ARIADNE TO THESEUS. 85 

10. 

This said, words failing, raise lugubrious moan, 

Beating my tortured breast. 
And that, unheard, the eye at least may own, 

Lift up my arms distressed. 

11. 

And signals on high points conspicuous rear 

To supplicate relief. 
You 're out of sight : then flowed the ample tear : 

Hope died : all fell to grief. 

12. 

Weep, endless weep, my weary e}-es, since there 

Your sails were lost to view. 
Now wild I wander with dishevelled hair 

As Theban bacchants do. 

13. 

Or gelid sitting on a rock, to pore 

Seaward, myself a stone. 
Or dwelling o'er the bed where two before, 

But widowed now of one. 

14, 

At night I seek the part where late you lay, 
The spot j^ou warmly pressed, 

And sobbing lie, and to our pillow say, — 
" Once two, oh ! yield the rest ! 

15. 

" Two we came here, my bed, single to leave ; 

" The greater part, oh where V — 
Incult the isle, no vestige I perceive 

Of plough or oxen here. 

12. As Tlieban bacchants. The priestosses of Bacchus, who, at the fes- 
tivals in honour of the god, went abroad half naked, with dishevelled 
hair, and making wild noises. 



86 ARTADNE TO THESEUS. 

16. 

By ocean hemmed, no mark of seaman-kind, 

No ship to stem the sea : 
And, grant both sailor, ship, and favouring wind, 

My home is none to me. 

17. 

The waters glided o'er with breezes fleet, 

We make our port exiled ; 
No home for me in all thy towns, O Crete ! 

Cradle of Jove the child ! 

18. 

My father and the land that owns his sway 

Were injured by my deed, 
When to avert your fate I lent the way, 

A clew your steps to lead. 

19. 
You swore by danger past you would be mine 

While both our beings last : 
We live, O Theseus, I no longer thine, 

By perjury off-cast. 

20. 
Me had but met the club my brother slew, 
Then death had been the end : 

16. My home is none to me. On account of her disobedience to her 
father in aiding Theseus to escape from the labyrinth. 

17. The waters glided o'er. Supposing I find means to get over to my 
country. 

No home for me in all thy toivns, O Crete ! 
Cradle of Jove the child ! 
Crete, which boasted of a hundred cities, claimed the honour also of 
being the birthplace of Jupiter. Saturn, his father, who held the god- 
ship of the world on condition that he should raise no male child, 
devoured his boys at their birth, but the goddess mother, Ops, gave him 
a stone to digest at the birth of Jupiter, and entrusted the infant to 
the care of the Corybantes, priests of Cybele on Mount Ida, by whom 
the young god was brought up on the isle of Crete. 

18. My father and the land that oivns his sivay. Minos and the isle 
of Crete. 

20. Me had but met the club my brother slew. Would that the club 
with which you slew the Minotaur had fallen on me. 
Evils that may impend. My misery in being abandoned by you is 



AEIADNE TO THESEUS. 87 

Now grieves my soul, with all her wrongs from 
Evils that may impend. [y ou > 

21. 

A thousand threatening deaths my fancy draws, 

Less dreadful than delay : 
A famished wolf distending avid jaws, 

Her craving to allay : 

22. 
Haply the tawny lion stalks his round, 

Or tigers prowl abroad : 
'Tis said sea monsters on this coast abound : 

Fear even of the sword. 

23. 
Save me from captive chain however mild ! 

From tedious labouring hours ! — 
Whose sire was Minos ; mother Phoebus' child, 

Theseus, yet more, am yours. 

24. 

Contemplating the sea, the land, the shore ; 

Sore threat both land and sea. 
Remain the gods, their forms affright me more. 

Wild wolves my destiny ! 

25. 

Of native men unsure the helping hand : 

Strangers, now tried, effray. 
Would that Androgeos lived, then Cecrops' land 

No debt of deaths would pay. 

augmented by numerous dangers incident to such an exposed position. 
These she is about to dev elope. 

23. WJiose mother Phoebus' child. Her mother, Pasipha?, was the 
daughter of Perseis, a sea nymph, one of the Oceanides, by Phoebus or 
the Sun. 

25. Strangers, now tried, effray. Poreigners, since my experience of 
them in you, frighten me still more. 

Would that Androgeos lived, then Cecrons' land. Cecrops' land is 
that of Greece, and had not Androgeos been murdered there, Minos 
would not have exacted the sacrifice of Greek children mentioned in 
the Argument. 



88 ARIADNE TO THESEUS. 

26. 
Nor, Theseus, had your knotted bludgeon fell'd 

The semi-bovine man, 
Nor you from me the thread eductive held, 

The life-string of your plan. 

27. 
No marvel if the palm by you be borne, 

The Cretan bi-form slain : 
Your iron breast, impervious to horn, 

Naked were smit in vain. 

28. 
There flint, there adamant, or there thy heart, 

Theseus, more hard than they, 
Ah perfid sleep, to hold me here inert ! 

Why not then close my day ? 

29. 
And ye officious cruel winds, who blew 

Too favouring to my wail ! 
Hand, tongue, more fatal : that my brother slew, 

This me with a false tale. 



30. 
Leagued enemies were oaths, and winds, and sleep : 

One maid 'gainst three allies : 
No mother here my parting breath to weep, 

And close my lifeless eyes. 

31. 

My wretched shade to utter realms will fly, 
No friend the corse perfume : 

26. Semi-bovine man. The Minotaur, who was half man, half bull. 
The thread eductive. The clew of thread which I furnished to lead 

you out of the labyrinth. 

27. The Cretan bi-form. The minotaur. 

Your iron breast, insensible to horn. Punning between the moral 
and literal senses of the words iron, insensible. 
• 29. Hand, tongue. Those of Theseus. 

31. My wretched shade. The shades of bodies wanting burial were 
doomed to wander beyond the limits of Elysium. 



ARIADNE TO THESEUS. 89 

My bones by water-birds denuded lie : 
Such is my service' tomb. 

82. 
You touch Cecropian port, then home, and, full 

Of honours in your town, 
Eecount the deed of the half-man, half-bull ; 

Your labyrinth renown : 

33. 
Nor Ariadne in your tale be hid, 

Her, too, those titles need. 
iEgides you ? no : Theseus never did 

iEthra Pittheis breed. 

34 

Him on a flood did some flint rock create, 

Ye gods ! why not impart, 
That from his deck he saw my wretched state ? 

'T would move his rigid heart. 

35. 
Here seated, view me with the mental eye ; 

A foam-lashed crag my rest ; 
My hair down drooping o'er my face descry, 

And my tear-deluged vest : 

36. 
See my frame, quivering like wind ruffled wheat, 

My slipping pen indite. 
But waive desert ; 'tis vain, and let us treat 

Sans favour for good right. 

32. You touch Cecropian port. Athenian port, the name of Cecrops, 
one of the early settlers there, having: passed to the country. Here she 
lays a picture of his happiness in contrast with that of her own misery. 

33. Here eight lines, the 33d and 34th stanzas of English, answer to six 
lines of Latin. 

JEgides you ? no : Theseus never did 
JEthra Pittheis breed. 
Yon the son of JEgeus r it cannot be, nor is it possible that JEthra, the 
child of Pitthens, can have borne such a son as you. The character of 
JEthra is still raised by the patronymic Pittheis, since her father 
Pittheus was one of the wisest and best men of his time. 



90 AKIADNE TO THESEUS. 

37. 

Say to our aid my lord's dear life not due : 
What death owes he to me ? 

These hands, sore as my beaten bosom, view 
Imploring o'er the sea ! 

83. 

View these lank locks, one half in dolour shed 
By tears, by sighs, by groans, 

Oh, Theseus, pray, pray come : if I am dead 
You '11 gather up my bones ! 



37. Say to our aid my lord's dear life not due. By the clew furnished 
him to get through the labyrinth. 

38. We have seen, Letter II. note 20, that Ariadne did not perish, but 
that she was afterwards espoused by Bacchus, and rode in a car drawn 
by tigers, as the unhappy Phillis has told us (Letter II. verse 20.), 

" She, and' I envy not, a better gained, 
" Tame tigers draw her car." 
Also in Letter VI. verse 29, Hypsipyle, counting Bacchus among the 
number of her ancestors, tells us that after death she took place in the 
heavens as a constellation. It is that called the Northern Crown. 
" And Bacchus, in whose Ariadne's crown 
" Bright flames constellate shine." 



LETTER XI. 
CANACE TO MACAREUS. 



Argument. 

Macareus and Canace, son and daughter of Eolus king of the winds, 
had the misfortune to fall in love with each other ; the consequence was 
the pregnancy of the sister. She was privately delivered, and her maid 
undertook to convey the child out of the palace in a flower basket, and 
put it to nurse. In doing this she had to pass by Eolus and his court, 
and, when, in the midst of them, the child crying betrayed itself to the 
boisterous grandfather, who, furious at the sin of his children, ordered 
the fruit of their crime to be immediately thrown to the dogs. He 
then, by one of his officers, sends to Canace a sword, with orders to kill 
herself. Before executing this rigid irrevocable mandate she writes 
the following to Macareus, who has taken refuge in the temple of 
Apollo, narrating her horrid situation, and praying him to collect the 
remains of the exposed child, and to deposit them in the same urn with 
her own. 



1. 

As this, obliterate by tears, my life 

A blot will shortly be. 
One hand a pen, the other holds a knife, 

My paper on my knee. 

2. 

Such is the child of Eolus : she may 

But so appease her sire. 
Would he were here to see the debt we pay, 

Fulfilling his desire ! 

3. 

His winds in rude ferocity surpassed, 

No tear his eye shall wet. 
'Tis much, in dwelling with the howling blast, 

Its tone his spirits get. 

1. A knife. The sword sent by her father for her to execute on 
herself. 
3. 'Tis much in dwelling with the howling blast. An excuse in irony. 



92 CAN ACE TO MACAREUS. 

4. 
Kestraining Notus, Zephyr, and the North, 

And whistling Eurus too, 
Anger, alas, in spite of him breaks forth : 

The feebler praise his due. 

5. 
Proud who by lineage to the empyrean rise, 

And Jove's own kindred stand ! 
The fatal blade no less before me lies, 

111 fitting woman's hand, 

6. 
Why, brother, why did our affection run 

Beyond fraternal cess ? 
Would thy dear Canace, ere we made one, 

Reduced to nothingness I 

7. 
With thee she warmed, and, as we Ve heard to 

Some god within her burned. [say, 

The colour fled her cheek ; wasting away, 

All food to loathing turned. 

8. 
Uneasy sleep, a whole night seemed a year ; 

Groaning, no pain I prove ; 
No reason why, and, loving though so dear, 

Scarce knowing what is love. 

9. 

My nurse's aged mind first saw the ill : 
" Eola loves," she said. 

4. Notus, the south wind. Zephyr ', the west, and the mildest of the 
winds. Eurus, the south-east wind. 

5. Proud who by Uncage. Annotatovs dispute to Cnnaee the kindred 
of Eolus with Jupiter. She might, perhaps, find it hard to make out 
her title. The pretension demonstrates at least that pride of birth is 
of all ages. Jupiter and the magnates of our own day may all say with 
prince Hal,—" They will be akin to us, or they '11 fetch it from Japhet." 

9. Eola. Canace, daughter of Eolus. 



CANACE TO MACABEUS. 93 

My blush and downcast eye, in spite of will, 
Tacit confession made. 

10. 
And now, the signs of pregnancy more plain, 

The furtive pains augment. 
What herbs, what medicines, did she not obtain, 

What sinful means Invent, 

11. 

Quite from our loins the burden to remove ! 

This you were not to know. 
The birth, too strong, resists : in vain she strove : 

He safe eludes the blow. 

12. 

Nine times had Dian run her phaseful course, 

And fast refilled her orb, 
'Cute throes, unfelt before, and growing worse 

My ignorant fears absorb. 

13. 
I scream. " Husli, "hush ! v quoth nurse ; " you 11 
make it known :" 
My lips her both hands press. 
Excruciate twinge will still put forth a groan : 
Nurse, fear, and shame repress. 

11, 
Word, cry, and plaint my energies constrain, 

The very tear held in. 
Death threats : Lucina's aid invoked in vain : 

And death self-caused is sin. 

10. Furtive pain. Pain which I am obliged to conceal. 

11. The birth. The infant in embryo. 

12. Nine times had Dian run her phaseful course. Nine times had 
the moon gone through her monthly changes. 

13. My lips her both hands pressed. Both her hands pressed against 
my lips. 

14. Lucina. A name of Juno or of Diana, both of whom presided 
over child-bearing. 

Death self -caused. If her own sin become the cause of her death. 



94 CAN ACE TO MACAKEUS. 



15. 

'Twas then down stooping, piteously sad, 
You pressed me warm to you, 

And, " Live, oh dearest sister, live/' you said, 
" Nor in one death link two. 

. 16. 
" Take courage ; we shall wed, then he by whom 

€t You 're mother claims his wife/' 
As dead, believe me, you revoked my doom : 

A birth foredid my strife. 

17. 

A birth ! poor victim ! was not Eolus there ? 

Hide shame from father's sight ! 
Nurse laid it in a frail, concealed with care 

'Mong fruit with flowers bedight. 

18. 

Pronouncing prayer, she feigns a sacrifice : 

All, Eolus' self, make way. 
Now near the threshold, the poor infant's cries 

The artifice betray. 

19. 

Tremendous, once revealed the forged tale. 

Thundered the tempest chief. 
As water trembles ruffled by the gale, 

Or aspen's quivering leaf, 

20. 

So you might see my pallid members shake ; 

The couch infirmly stands. 
He comes, nor slow appalling threats to make, 

Withholding scarce his hands. 

15. Nor in one death link two. Your own and your child's. 
1G. A birth foredid my strife. The birth of the child put an end to 
my struggle. 



CANACE TO MACAREUS. 95 

21. 

Shame-struck, and pouring tears, nor uttering 
My tongue lies mute in fear. [word, 

At once he dooms my son for beast or bird 
Its little limbs to tear. 

22. 

Poor babe, it cried as if the doom it felt, 

And mercy tried to call. 
What was my feeling at such misery dealt ? 

Seek yours, you '11 find it all. 

23. 

Fruit of myself was there, its foe before, 
To wild wolves to be thrown ! 

He left the room : 'twas then our face we tore, 
And made a piteous moan. 

24. 

My father's satellite arrived meantime 
With words of hideous sound : 

" This sword from Eolus ; you who know the 
" The meaning can expound." [crime 

25. 

We know, and do accept ; ay, in our breast 

Deposed his gift shall be : 
The wedding present by the sire addressed ! 

The boon of cruelty ! 

26. 

Hence, hence, Hymen, take thy flame and fly 

With speed, ere yet awhile 
Black furies be about us hideously, 

To grace our funeral pile. 

23. He. Her father, Eolus. 

25. Ay, in our breast deposed his gift shall be. My father's dagger 
shall be struck into my heart as he wishes. 



96 CAN ACE TO MACAREUS. 

27. 
Marry, dear sisters all with happier fate : 

Let my misfortune warn. 
But, what from my sad fruit could emanate 

To offend, though hardly born ? 

28. 
Guilty, if guilty may, let him be said, 

He died, poor babe, for me. 
My son ! my grief ! to beasts a banquet made ! 

Too horrid destiny ! 

29. 
My child ! the wretched pledge of ill-star'd love ! 

Thy birthday is thy doom. 
And me forbid in sad array to move 

Tow'rd thy precocious tomb ! 

30. 

On thy cold breast no mother's kisses laid, 

Alive to jackals heft : 
Myself anon will follow thy sad shade, 

Nor sorrow long bereft. 

31. 
But thou, my hoped in vain, oh, pray consume 

What from the beasts may fall : 
Lay the poor dust with mine : one common 

One urn, however small. [tomb, 

32. 

Live and remember us, and shed thy tear. 

Dread not a lover's clay, 
But do the bidding of thy sister dear : 

My father's I obej r . 

28. If guilty may. If so young a creature can be guilty. 

31. But thou, my hoped in vain. Thou, Maeareus, whom I in vain 
hoped for as a wedded husband. 

32. Bread not a lover's clay. Fear not to approach and touch the body 
of me, your departed friend. 



LETTER XII. 
MEDEA TO JASON. 

Argument. 

Jason, on his expedition in search of the golden fleece, when arrived 
at Colchos, the term of his outward journey, excited a tender feeling in 
the heart of Medea, daughter of iEetes and Idya, king and queen of the 
country. An agreement of marriage having been made between them, 
she instructed him by what means he might accomplish the object of 
his voyage. The prize obtained, he privately embarked, having settled 
with Medea chat she should follow him on board. With this view she 
left the palace, accompanied by her brother, the boy Absyrtus. On the 
way, perceiving that they were pursued by her father, she killed the 
youth, separated his limbs, and scattered them on the way to attract 
and occupy the king's attention, and by that means divert him from 
the pursuit. Thus she got safely aboard, and they arrived all well in 
Thessaly. Here they found Jason's father, iEson, worn out with age, 
and Medea, by her art, restores him to the vigour of youth. Jason at 
length repudiates Medea, and takes to wife Creusa, daughter of Creon, 
king of Corinth. Medea, furious at this, writes to Jason accusing him 
of ingratitude and treachery, and threatening deep revenge if he does 
not take her back. 



1. 

At Colchos some small pains we took for you, 

In need of our poor art. 
Would the dispensers of the mortal clew 

Had there wound up my part ! 

2. 

Well had Medea died, so would not she 

Bewail her ruined peace. 
Ah me ! why ever did that Pelian tree 

Go seek the Phryxian fleece ? 

1. Tlie dispensers of the mortal clew, the Fates : three sisters, Clotho, 
Lachesis, and Atropos, daughters of Erebus and Xox (hell and night). 
Their business was to determine the destinies of men, which they did 
by spinning a thread. The first held the distaff; the second apportioned 
the thread to the life of the man about to enter the world ; the last, 
Atropos, with her shears cut it to mark the close of the career. 

2. Her ruined peace, since Jason has abandoned her. 

Why ever did that Pelian tree. Why ever did that ship Argo, con- 
structed of the timber of Mount Pelion. 

Go seek the Phryxian fleece. The golden fleece, the object of Jason's 
expedition, had been deposited at Colchis by Phryxus, son of Athamas, 

E 



98 MEDEA TO JASON. 

3. 

Why did that Argo ever stem our seas 

To bring a Grecian throng ? 
Why did the sunny locks of Jason please, 

And his too flattering tongue ? 

4. 
Or why, since foreign sail upon our shore 

Had brought audacious men ; 
Did he not unpremedicate explore 

The fire-breath'd oxen then ? 

5. 
Had but the grain he cast offensive been, 

He by his fruit struck dead, 
What perjuries had we not avoided clean ! 

What evils missed our head ! 

6. 
One likes with favours the ingrate to brand: 

1 11 do % 'tis all I get. 
Retrace : your vessel liulFd to Colchic strand 

Is safe in harbour set : 

7. 
Medea then was what your bride is now : 

My sire had equal store : 
Hers Corinth held 5 mine Scythia, land of snow, 

To the left Pontic shore. 

king of Thebes and Nephelc. His mother dying, and his life being in 
danger from the jealousy of the step-mother, Ino, Phryxus and his 
sister, Helle, fled the country to go to the court of their friend ^Eetes, 
at Colchis, in a ship called the ram, or, according to the fable, on the 
back of a golden ram of magic endowments, who bore them through the 
air ; but, passing over the entrance of the Propontis, Helle fell into the 
water and was drowned, whence those straits are called the sea of Helle, 
or Hellespont. On arriving at Colchis, he sacrificed his ram to Mara 
and deposited its golden fleece in the temple. 

3. Argo, the name of Jason's ship. 

4. The fire-breath' d oxen. (See Letter VI., note 3.) 

5. Had but the grain he cast. (See note, Letter VI. , verses 3 and 4.) 

6. Is safe in harbour set. She takes up her story from the point 
where Jason first entered their territory at Colchis. 

7. My sire had equal store, territories as rich as those of her father. 



MEDEA TO JASON. 99 

8. 
Opened iEetes' halls, the Grecian youth 

On broidered couch reclined. 
Then first I knew thee. There began the ruth 

And ruin of my mind. 

9. 
We saw and fell, with unknown fire consumed, 

Burning like fane-lit pine. 
You beautiful^ me destiny-foredoomed. 

Your eye extinguished mine. 

10. 
You felt it, traitor, love lies not concealed ; 

The flame will needs appear. 
Just then the terms are read : strange bulls must 

Their shoulder to the gear ; [yield 

11. 
The bulls of Mars, more dread than for their horn. 

Whose fearful breath was fire ; 
Brass hoofs, their nostrils lined with brass in- 

Which flame and smoke expire. [born, 

12. 

Seed too you 're bid with ample hand to throw, 

Armed people to beget, 
To smite you with each other as they grow : 

The sower sore beset ! 

13. 

The last a sleepless dragon to deceive, 

Of charge not easy reft. 
Such the proposals, hearing wdiich all grieve ; 

The festal board is left. 

8. Opened jE'ete's halls. The saloons of iEete's palace were thrown 
open to the Grecian guests. 

9. Your eye extinguished mine. I stood fascinated under your look. 

10. The terms are ready the conditions on which the golden fleece is 
to be ceded to you. 

10 to 13. Explained by the same passage already referred to. (Let- 
ter VI., note 3.) 

E 2 



100 MEDEA TO JASON. 

14. 

Creusa then and Creon's wide estate 

Lay far beyond your view. 
First you retire (my own tears scintillate), 

Gasping a faint adieu. 

15. 

Deep smitten, to the couch I bear my pain, 

Weeping, all night awake : 
Before my view the bulls, the virile grain ; 

Before my view the snake. 

16. 

Here love, there fear. Fear strengthens love. 
'Twas day : 

My tender sister came. 
Forlorn, dishevelled, on the face I lay, 

A seeming lifeless frame. 

17. 

She called on you : one asks, —another has : 
We give the aid we pray. 

That wood so dense of oak and pine, that was 
Impervious to day, 

18. 

Where Dian's temple rose, of antique fame ; 

The goddess stands in gold ; — 
You'll have forgot both place and me : — we came 

Thither, and thus you told : 

14. Creusa then, and Creon's wide estate 

Lay Jar beyond your view. 
At that time you were far from dreaming of Creusa or her father 
Creon's dominions. 
Gasping a faint adieu. While you gasped, &c. 

15. Deep smitten, with love. 

Before my view the bulls, &c. All the difficulties and dangers you 
have to encounter being presented to my mind. 

17. One asks, another has. I ask, Creusa obtains. 

18. The goddess stands in gold. There is in the temple a golden statue 
of the goddess. 



MEDEA TO JASON. 101 

19. 
" Fated, you reign omnipotent o'er me : 

" My life yon hold in stake. 
u Suffice the power, if satisfaction be, 

" But save, for glory's sake. 

20. 
" By our sore ills, which you may ease, I call ; 

" By your all-seeing sire, 
" By triple Dian's visage, and by all 

" The host of heaven entire, 

21. 

6i Oh maiden, pity me ! Make me and mine 

" Ever devote to thee. 
" If no disparagement with Greek to join, 

" The gods so favour me, 

22. 
" Rather my vacant spirit flit in air 

" Than with another wed. 
a By Juno, queen of nuptial vows, I swear, 

u And her whose floor we tread ! " 

23. 

This, but a part, much moved a simple maid : 
You joined your hand to mine, 

Shedding real tears. Are we by them betrayed ? 
We fell to oaths so fine. 

19. Suffice the power if satisfaction he. Content yourself with having 
the power to injure, if that be a satisfaction, but spare for the sake of 
your glory. 

20. By your all-seeing sire. Sol, the sun, who was the father of her 
father, JSetes. 

By triple Dian's visage. Diana has the epithet triple on account of 
her three names : Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Hecate in hell. 

21. With Greek to join, to marry a Grecian. 

The gods so favour me as to make me acceptable and become the 
object of your choice. 

22. Rather my vacant spirit flit in air. Rather let my spirit be 
separated from the body and flit iu air. 

And her whose floor we tread. Diana, in whose temple they are. 

23. A simple maid, herself. Medea. 



102 MEDEA TO JASON. 

24. 
The brazen-footed bulls endure the yoke ; 

The share divides the field : 
The lands by germing dragon-teeth are broke 

And forth armed soldiers yield. 

25. 

Myself who wrought the spell saw fearfully 

The crescent warriors rise, 
Till, the battalion ripe in panoply, 

Each by his neighbour dies. 

26. 
The scaled indormient dragon next one sees, 

Breasting the ground along. 
Where then your spouse and fortune? Where, 
'tween seas, 
Your Isthmian Argive throng ? 

27. 
Twas I, — -barbarian now, too poor to keep, — 

I, of venefic stain, 
I closed those flaming lids in medicined sleep, 

And gave the fleece to gain. 

28. 
A father cheated, home, friends, country left : 

Exile with you paid cost. 
Fair fame besmirched, a prey to foreign theft : 

Dear mother, sister lost. 

24. The brazen-footed bulls. Same note already referred to. note 3, 
Letter VI., which serves equally to explain verses 24, 25, and part of 26. 

25. Ripe in panoply. Full grown and complete in armour. 

26. Where then your spouse? Future spouse Creusa, mentioned 
note 14. 

Where, 'tween seas, your Isthmian Argive throng ? Where were then 
your Grecian followers from the isthmus of Corinth? 

27. Of venefic stain. Having- the stain of a reputation for poisoning. 
Tliose flaming eyes. The eyes of the dragon. 

28. A father cheated. Her father, .Eetes, cheated by her helping Jason 
to succeed in his enterprise. 

A prey to foreign theft. To your artifices, a stranger who stole my 
affections, and, after possession, abandon me. 



MEDEA TO JASON. 103 

29. 

My brother, the companion of my flight 
His tale we can't go through ! 

The hand durst perpetrate, but dares not write ! — 
Would his lot mine ! — with you. 

30. 

TJntrembling yet, such done what could one 
We trust us to the sea, [dread ? 

Where were the gods ? their vengeance merited 
Fraud* and credulity. 

31. 

Would the Sympiegades had closed and smashed, 

Commingled both our bones ! 
Or that to Scylia's hounds we had been dashed ! 

Debt to th' ingrate she owns. 

29. His tale we cannot go through. The tragical tale of her murder of 
Absyrtus, mentioned in the Argument. 

Would his lot mine ! — with you. I would willingly be murdered too, 
provided you were murdered with me. 

30. ..... Their vengeance merited 

Fraud and credulity. 
Your fraud in marrying me to obtain your ends, and then to abandon 
me, merited the vengeance of the gods, and my credulity in trusting to 
your falsehood, led me to deeds which merited their vengeance also. 

The annotator of theDelphin edition observes on this line, Tufraudis 
poenas crediditatis ego, that Ovid would no doubt and with more truth 
have used the word crudelitaiis instead of crediditatis had it suited his 
metre. Our line would then be Your fraud, my cruelty. But I am in- 
clined to think that Ovid would not be disposed to change what he has 
written. The thought uppermost in Medea's mind is her credulity, 
which, though not deserving punishment per se, may well have earned 
a whipping for the sin she committed under its influence. 

31. The Sympiegades. Two island rocks at the entrance of the Black 
Sea, which, at a distance, seem to touch each other. She presents the 
image of their closing on the ship, and crushing them in their passage 
through the strait. 

Scylia's hounds. Scylla is a dangerous rock on the Italian side of the 
Straits of Messina, against which the sea roars with tremendous noise. 
According to fable, it was once a beautiful girl of the same name, 
daughter of the giant Typhon. She fell in love with the sea-god Glaucus, 
which excited the jealousy of Circe, the princess magician, who after- 
wards nearly corrupted Ulysses, and who bewitched the body of Scylla, 
so as to convert the lower part of it into a mass of barking dogs. Horror- 
struck at the change, Scylla threw herself into the sea, and immediately 
became a rock, round which her dogs still continue to augment the 
howling of the waters. 

Debt to the ingrate she oivns. The poets sometimes mix the adven- 
tures of two Scyllas ; here vengeance for ingratitude refers to another, 



104 MEDEA TO JASON, 

32. 

Or in Charybdis' whirl, the pilot's dread, 

Both at one suck enclosed ! 
But victor, safe, the Hsemonian ground you tread, 

To the gods the fleece deposed. 

33. 

Need one name Pelias, whom his girls dissect 

Under mistaken charm ? 
'Tis fair to boast since others will object, 

And for your good the harm, 

31 

You dared (can words depict)— yon dared to say, 

" Bid iEson s house adieu!" 
I went ; the sole companions of my way 

Two sons and love for you. 

35. 

And soon the sounds of Hymen reach my ear : 
The nuptial lights illume, 

daughter of Nisus, king of Megara, who, when her father's dominions 
were invaded by Minos, became enamoured of the assailant, and, to gain 
his love, betrayed the place into his hands. She was despised by Minos 
for her pains, and hence her debt to ingratitude. This Scylla also threw 
herself into the sea. 

32. Or in Charybdis' whirl. This is a powerful whirlpool on the Sicily 
side of the Straits of Messina, and opposite to the rock Scylla ; the pas- 
sage between them was so dangerous that it became proverbial. To avoid 
Scylla and fall into Charybdis was, as we say, out of the frying pan into 
the fire. Fable makes the whirlpool also a woman, changed into that 
form by Jupiter as a punishment for having stolen and driven away the 
oxen which Hercules, as we have seen, Letter IX., verse 23, had sent to 
Italy after having killed Geryon. 

33. Need one name Pelias. We have seen in the Argument of Letter VI. 
that Pelias was the usurper of a throne due to Jason. The argument of 
the present letter has also shown that Medea, on arriving with Jason at 
his home, performed a miracle on his father ^.-Eson, by restoring him to 
the vigour of youth. The daughters of Pelias prayed her to do the same 
by their father, who had been the mover of all Jason's labours and dan- 
gers. Guilefully Medea undertook the task, telling them it would be 
necessary first to kill the old man, then separate his members, and boil 
them in an enchanted cauldron. All this being done by the daughters, 
Medea refused to carry the charm any farther. 

And for your good the harm. Since the mischief I did in making the 
daughters of Pelias avenge you on their father, your enemy and the 
usurper of your throne, the cause of your dangers and sulferings, was for 
your good ; it procured you the satisfaction of revenge ; in causing his 
death, therefore, I did you real service. 



MEDEA TO JASON. 105 

The flute and harp pour forth their voices clear : 
Me grief and spite consume, 

36. 

Trembling and doubting the foul sin can be, 
A chill runs through my brain : 

The gay crowd chant " Hymen, Hymensee !" 
The nearer more the pain. 

37. 

Servants there wandering weep and hide their 
tear : 

The news to me who 'd tell ? 
More satisfied, Heaven knows, the less to hear, 

Too sad whatever befell. 

38. 

Our youngest boy, being bid, to him no pain, 

Stood at the folding gate : 
" Back, mother, back/' he cried, "'tis father's train; 

He's in the car of state." 

39. 

Oh, then we beat our breast and wept aloud, 

Nor spared our face to tear : 
'Twas in my mind to rush into the crowd, 

And strip her dizened hair. 

40. 

Scarcely refraining madly to out-cry, 

" He's mine ! " with uplift voice. 

injured sire, be glad ! O land I fly, 

Absyrtus' shade, rejoice ! 

36. Hymen, Hymencee. The first words of a nuptial hymn. 
40. O ! injured sire be glad ! oh land IJly, 

Absyrtus' shade, rejoice ! 
Since by my present sufferings you are all revenged for the injuries 

1 have done you. 

E 5 



106 MEDEA TO JASON. 

41. 
Ah me ! home, throne, friends, kindred, country 

Now he, who weighed them all ! [lost ! 
Bulls to reduce, and serpents scale-embossed ! 

Before one man to fall ! 

42. 
I, who with medicined, spell-wrought fires assail, 

Avoid not my own flame ! 
Are magic, herbs, and art of no avail ? 

All hell is put to shame ! 

43. 
No day delights, at eve no sorrows cease ; 

No sleep restores this brain ! 
Dragons I soothe — my mind can get no ease : 

Art to myself is vain. 

44. 
A harlot holds those limbs preserved by me ! 

I sow that she may reap ! 
Haply to charm the fool with braggery, 

Silence inept to keep. 

45. 
You'll newly blame our looks, assert new crime : 

She smiles, enjoys our fall. 
Let the minx laugh, on Tyrian couch sublime, 

Shell weep and pay for all. 

46. 
Be knife or flame at hand, or well-drugged bowl, 

None 'scape Medea's hate. 
But if chance will prayer touch your iron soul, 

Hear my due style abate. 

41. Now he who weigliecl them all. Now I lose him who was worth and 
compensated all to me. 

42. Avoid not my own flame. The flames of love and anger with which 
1 burn. 

44. A harlot, meaning her rival, Oreusa. 
The fool, meaning* again Oreusa. 
46. Prayer touch, that prayer touch. 

Due style, the style of severity and reproach which is due to your 
falsehood. 



MEDEA TO JASON. 107 

47. 

As supple we can be as erst you were, 

Even at your feet to kneel. 
Though I seem vile, our progeny yet spare, 

Let them no step-dame feel. 

48. 
They're like you, Jason, and my wrath allays 

Your form in theirs to see. 
Oh ! by yon sky, bright with my grandsire's rays, 

By our two children's plea, 

49. 
Restore that bed for which are riven all ties : 

Good faith in love e'er keep. 
We beg not against bulls or spears that rise, 

Nor that a snake may sleep : 

50. 
We claim our own : 'tis but a right you yield, 

By whom we mother grew. 
Is it the dower ? 'Twas paid there in the field, 

Impregned with teeth by you. 

51. 

My dower ? — The golden ram with the rich fleece, 
Which, asked, you'd not restore. 

My dower ? — You safe. My dower ? — The youth 
of Greece : 
Compare the wealth she bore. 

43. With my grandsire's rays. With the rays of the sun : through 
her father iEetes she is granddaughter of Sol, the sun. 
By our two children's plea. By the just claim of our two children. 

49. For which are riven all ties, to obtain which I offended my family, 
and cut all connection with them. 

We beg not against bulls. I ask not your love as you did inine, to 
accomplish a certain object, vanquishing bulls, soldiers, or a dragon. 

50. Is it the dower 1 Is it because you received no dowry with me, 
and your new wife is rich in possessions. 

By whom, you, by whom. 

Impregned with teeth : where you planted dragon's teeth to grow into 
armed men. 

51. Which ashed you'd not restore. If you repudiate the wife, you 
should restore the dowry ; but were the golden fleece, which I say is"my 
dowry, to be re-demanded, you would not restore it. 

My dower ? You safe 'The youth of Greece. My dowry is the deed 

of saving you and your companions, the young men of Greece. 



108 MEDEA TO JASON. 

52. 

That you have life, a spouse, a fine estate — 
That you can wrong, is mine, 

But presently - — — or why anticipate ? 
Wrath in big threats is fine ! 

53. 

Where anger leads I follow, e'en to repent. 

We've helped a cheat : that's sore. 
Look to 't the god by whom my heart is rent, 

I muse what I'll do more. 



52. Is mine, is owing to my assistance. 
But presently I'll be revenged. 

Why anticipate ? Why develop beforehand all the revenge I meditate? 

53. I follow e'en to repent. Whatever my anger suggests, I'll do, at 
the risk of repenting afterwards. 

Look to it the god. If I am led to the sin of murder, the gods who 
have permitted such provocation as I have received may thank them- 
selves for it. 



LETTER XIII. 
LAODAMIA TO PEOTESILAUS. 



Argument. 

Protesilaus, a Thessalian prince, son of Iphiclus, on his way to Troy 
with other Grecian princes on board a fleet of forty sa'.l, was weather- 
bound at Aulis, a port in Boeotia. His wife, Laodamia, daughter of 
Acastus and Laodatliea, hearing of his detention there, loving her hus- 
band with the tenderest affection and tormented by omens and dreams, 
addresses this letter to conjure him to be mindful of the oracle of 
Apollo, and abstain from the too dangerous services of the war. This 
oracle had declared to the Greeks that the first who should land on 
Trojan ground would perish. Now Protesilaiis, moved by his ardent 
courage, did land first, and died by the hand of Hector. 



1. 

Laodamia, the Haenionian spouse, 

To her Efemonian lord, 
Protesilas. Health with her dearest vows 

Accompany the word ! 



Wind-bound at Aulis you are long detained : 

Here foully fair the wind. 
At home had but retentive gales constrained, 

Foul weather had been kind. 

3. 
More kisses, love, more cautions had been given : 

We had so much to say. 
By favouring breezes from my soul was riven 

More than itself that day. 

The four first lines answer to two of the Latin. 

1. Hcemonian, Thessalian, from Mount Haemus. The epithet applies 
to both parties, since the father of each reigned over a part of Thessaly. 

2. Here foully fair the wind. When you were yet here, the wind, 
foul to my wishes, was vexingly fair for your departure. 

Had been, would have been. 



110 LAODAMIA TO PROTESILAUS. 

4. 
Away on board, from my embraces wrung, 

Protesilas, you hie. 
Grief-struck, of speech bereft, hardly my tongue 

Articulates " good-bye/' 

5. 
With Aquilo, the canvass onward bore 

Protesilas away. 
While sight can compass, mine persists to pore, 

Distinguish as it may. 

6. 
Still, when no longer it deciphered you, 

The sail my sense retained ; 
At length, all image vanished from my view. 

When nought but sea remained, 

7. 
Thee gone, night come, lifeless, as they relate, 

I sank upon the beach. 
Poor mother and Acastus, in sore strait 

To renovate my speech, 

8. 
Kecalled in fine the power, but to deplore 

They did not let me die. 
With life renewed, renewed the tears that pour 

From my full-teeming eye. 

9. 
Now listless, on my hair nor bead nor band ; 

No shining robe my wear ; 
But, like those touched with Bacchus' vintage 

Mad, wandering here and there, [wand, 

5. Aquilo, a name of the north wind, which favoured the first part of 
Protesilaus' voyage down the jNegropont channel. 

7. Acastus, the father of Laodamia. 

9. But like those touched. Bacchus, the god of wine, bore a wand or 
spear decked with vine-leaves and ivy, which they called a thyrsus ; 
whoever he touched with it became mad. This figures the ebriety 
caused by the use of wine. The votaries of the god bore these wands in 



LAODAMIA TO PKOTESILAUS. Ill 

10. 

The Phyllian dames assembled here entreat 
Me,—" Wear your royal dress/' 

Twere fine ! my robe with musk and rose replete ! 
Fights he at Troy the less ? 

11. 
Cuirass and helm out there^ shall here be seen 

New gawds and pompous style ? 
No, let his toil be figured by our mien, 

Splendour inurned the while. 

12. 
Paris bright, in war be slowly fired 

As you are perfid guest ! 
Would you had ne'er the Spartan spouse admired, 

Or she been unimpressed ! 

13. 

Too deep, good Menelas, a jilt you mourn, 
Dole throughout Greece to move. 

Heaven grant our omen swerve and he return, 
Sacred his arms to Jove ! 

14. 
Still at war's mention ever terrified, 

My tears bedew the ground. 
Troy, Simois, Xanthus, Tenedos, and Ide, 

Are names of fearful sound. 

their processions, and performed the most grotesque dances, uttering 
the wildest howling that can be conceived. 
10. Phyllian, from Phyllos, a town of Thessaly. 

12. O Paris bright. Paris, the son of Priam and cause of the war 
by the rape of Helen, was remarkably handsome. 

13. Menelaiis, the husband of Helen. 

Heaven grant our omen swerve. Alluding to a bad omen to which 
she reverts again, verse 23. 

And he, Protesilaiis. 

Sacred his arms to Jove. His arms to be hung up in the temple of 
Jupiter as a sacred trophy. 

14. Troy, Simois, Xanthus, Tenedos, and Ide. Names of places near 
the seat of war. The city Troy, the rivers Simois and Xanthus, the 
island of Tenedos, and Mount Ida. 



112 LAODAMIA TO PROTESILAUS. 

15. 

The guest knew well, or had not been so bold, 

A support would not lack. 
He came, 'tis said, conspicuous in gold, 

Troy's wealth upon his back. 

16. 

With ships and men, whereby a chieftain wins, 

His quota of the realm. 
To all this fell the sister of the twins : 

Our Greece it may overwhelm. 

17. 

I dread one Hector. Paris spake him fell, 

Harder than steel in fight. 
Avoid that Hector if you love me well ; 

Ever his fear in sight. 

18. 

While him you shun> cautious of others too, 

Deem many Hectors there : 
Mindful to think, when hotly you pursue, 

" Laoda bids beware/' 

19. 

If Ilion must by Grecian fall, thee safe, 

Fall Ilion as it may. 
Atrides hunt the youth who makes him chafe : 

The robbed the robber pay. 



15. The guest, Paris, who came as a guest to Menelaiis. See Argument, 
Letter I. But we shall presently have his own letter to Helen. 

Or had not, or would not have. 

16. The sister of the twins, Helen, the sister of Castor and Pollux, and 
object of Paris' rape. 

Our Greece it may o'erwhelm, it may be the ruin of this our Greece. 
19. Atrides hunt the youth tuho makes him chafe: 

The robbed the robber pay. 
Let Menelaiis who has been robbed hunt down the youth Paris, who 
has robbed him, till retribution be made. 



LAODAMU TO PROTESILAUS. 113 

20. 

Let Menelas go win, as just, his plea : 

He combats for his wife. 
'Tis not your case : strive you to live for me : 

Return and bring me life. 

21. 

Spare one, O Dardans, in a host of foes, 

Nor with his life kill mine. 
Not his the rage with uplift sword who goes 

To lead the slaughtering line. 

22. 

Stronger in arms who combat with good will : 

Protesilas let love. 
I will confess, once I 'd have held you still, 

But fear'd my fears to move. 

23. 

Twas when you left the hall, Troy ward to wend, 

On the stair you nearly fell. 
Shuddering with dread I prayed, "May that por- 

" Returning safe and well/* [tend 

24. 

Now this is said that you avoid the van : 

Vain be my terrors found. 
Some one the Fates demand, be who it can, 

First treading Ilian ground. 

21. Spare one, O Dardans. The country named Troy, from one of 
its early kings, Tros, was originally called Dardania froni Dardanus, the 
chief of the earliest settlers t here. 

22. Onceltcould have held you still. I wished to persuade you to 
remain at home, but dared not speak my thoughts of fear. 

23. On the stair you nearly fell. 
Returning safe and well. 

The first line contains a bad omen, which she feels, shuddering. By 
the second, her love strains to interpret it into a good one, unwilling, as 
she has just said, to give way to thoughts of fear. 

24. Some one the Fates demand. Alluding to the oracle mentioned in 
the Argument. 



11.-4 LAODAMIA to protesilaus. 

25. 
Unhappy she who first shall have to mourn ! 

You Heaven from rashness save ! 
Of thousand sail be you the thousandth borne 

O'er the last weary wave. 

26. 
This too observe : go last down the ship's side ; 

Why haste to foreign strand ? 
Returning, ply with sail and oar the tide, 

And urge your keel to land. 

27. 
Sleeps Phoebus, or on high his chariot whirls, 

At eve or morn, we sigh. 
Yet more at eve, dearer than day to girls 

In love's embrace who lie. 

23. 
Our pillow nightly hankers after dreams : 

False joys please wanting true. 
Ever thy form : ah me ! but pale it seems, 

And mournfully to rue. 

29. 
We start from sleep ; invoke the shades of night : 

No altar unadored. 
Throw incense, dropping tears, which seem t' 

Like burning spirit poured. [ignite 

SO. 
You, once returned, when here these arms enchain, 

With joy my sense will ache ; 
When on connubial couch together lain, 

You full recital make. 

27. Sleeps Phoebus, or high his chariot ivhirls. Whether the sun 
be gone down or shine high in the heavens. 

28. Our pilloiu. I, when on my pillow. 

- Ever thy form presents itself to my dream. 



LAODAMIA TO PROTESILAUS. 115 

31. 

In middle tale occurs, much as it please, 

A pause of kisses long. 
Kisses are apt the place of words to seize, 

And make a livelier tongue. 

32. 

But thoughts of Asia rise and wat'ry graves, 

And flattering hopes all fail. 
Too full of terrors are the winds and waves, 

Yet spite of them you sail. 

33. 

None brave the wind, though home invite to joy : 

Despising it you roam. 
"While Neptune bars the progress to his Troy : 

Turn then, Greeks, turn home. 

34. 

Whither away ? oh hear the storm forefend. 

No chance this : 'tis from Heaven ! * 
W T hat asks your war ? a harlot home to wend ? 

To Greece, men, while 'tis given. 

35. 

But this is vain : what 's done is past recall : 
Mild winds then bear you far. 

Happier Troy's dames ! Though seen their cham- 
pions' fall, 
Though near the hostile war, 



33. Yon roam. You undertake a voyage far away from home. 
While Neptune bars the progress to his Troy. The principal gods, 

protectors of Troy, were Neptune, Venus, Apollo, Mars : that is, navi- 
gation, love, the arts, and arms. The chief celestial allies of the Greeks 
were Juno and Minerva • that is, power and wisdom. Jupiter, or the 
providence of heaven, was impartial. 

34. A harlot home. Helen to Sparta. 

To Greece, men, while 'tis given. Make for Greece, O ye men, while 
it is yet in your power. 



116 LAODAMIA TO PKOTESILAUS, 

36. 

The bride herself, at morning, ready is 

To arm her warrior spouse. 
Each sturdy buckle set, she takes a kiss, 

Sensation sweet to rouse. 

37. 

She leads him forth, holds him awhile to say, 
" Bring back these arms to Jove." 

With this injunction, wending on his way, 
He heeds for his house's love. 

38. 

Returned, she takes his shield, relieves his head, 

Pressing it to her own. 
We, far away, all misadventure dread : 

Things feared to us are done. 

39. 

While banished hence afar, in foreign lands, 

Your waxen figure 's here, 
By me caressed, to it my heart expands 

In softest souvenir. 

40. 
Truly a form it more than seems : add voice, 

Protesilas 't would be. 
'Tis my sweet commune, image of my choice, 

As it could answer me. 

41. 
By your return, by you, my gods, I swear, 

By days of love to come, 
By that dear front, — may it live grey locks to 

By all the joys of home, [wear, — 

38. We. The wives of Greece. 

40. As it could. As if it could. 

41. By your return, by you, my gods. I swear by yourself and your 
safe return, which are the two deities I adore. 



LAODAMIA TO PROTESILAUS. 117 

42. 

I '11 come to you wherever you may call : 

In health, the gods so speed ! 
And now let one last bidding sum up all : 

If you love me, take heed. 



42. In health, the gods so speed. May Heaven grant that I find you in 
health. 



LETTER XIV. 
HYPERMNESTRA TO LYNCEUS. 

Argument. 

Danaus and iEgyptus were the sons of Belus : the former by his several 
wives had fifty daughters, the latter fifty sons. iEgyptus proposed a 
general marriage between the two families, the fifty young men to the 
fifty girls. Now Danaus, having learnt from an oracle that he would 
die by the hand of a son-in-law, in order to escape the danger took 
ship and came to Argos, thus avoiding the proposed connection. 
iEgyptus, indignant at seeing his offer thus rejected, sent his fifty sons 
with an army to besiege their uncle, forbidding them to return till 
they had either killed Danaus or espoused his daughters. Danaus, 
then, constrained by the siege, consented to give his daughters in 
marriage to their cousins. To each of the young women, however, on 
the wedding day he gave a dagger, with injunction to use it on their 
husbands in the nuptial bed when, heated with wine and feasting, 
they should all be wrapt in the first profound sleep. The girls all 
executed their father's order except Hypermnestra, who spared Lynceus 
her spouse, recommending him to fly as soon as possible. 'Now when 
Danaus found that the deed had been done by all his daughters 
except Hypermnestra, he caused her to be put in prison, there to 
wait the punishment of death for disobedience. From her cell she 
addresses this letter to her husband, begging him either to bring help, 
or, failing in that, and if she should be put to death, to have her 
interred with all due funeral ceremony. She was, however, liberated 
by Lynceus after he had slain Danaus, and thus fulfilled the oracle. 



1. 

From Hypermnestra to the one unslain 

Of fifty royal brothers : 
Herself confined in ignominious chain, 

For charity to others. 

2. 

Guilty that she refused her spouse to kill, 
Praised had she shown him dead : 

A guilty praise to do a father's will, 
Her husband poniarded. 



HYPERMNESTRA TO LYNCEUS. 119 



Me rather let the wedding torch consume, 

By me inviolate : 
Rather the sword; by my harsh father's doom, 

Myself exterminate : 

4. 

Than he should make me say, " Would I had not," 

Or grieve a worthy deed. 
Danaus and cruel sisters wail the blot : 

Tears are their action's meed. 

5. 

My heart recoils at memory of that night : 

It thrills me to the bone. 
You deem this hand could do ? It shrinks to 

The deed surmised its own. [write 

6. 

'Twas thus : Sol in the w^est had laid his head. 

Twilight the day relieved, 
When we beneath iEgyptus' roof were led, 

All armed : th' old man received. 

7. 
Resplendent lamps of gold bedaze the eye : 

Incense the gods eschew. 
" Hymen, O Hymenaee ;" the people cry ; 

Juno and he withdrew. 



3. By me inviolate. My sisters violated the marriage ceremony by 
murdering their husbands, which I did not. 

4. Would Iliad not done the honest and charitable act of saving my 
husband. 

5. The deed surmised its oicn. The deed which you surmise it could 
have perpetrated. 

6. When ice ; my sisters and myself. 

7. Incense the gods eschew. The eye is dazzled also with flames of in- 
cense which, on this occasion, is odious to the gods. 

Hymen, O Hymencee, the nuptial hymn. 

Juno and he withdrew. He, Hymen, the god of marriage, and Juno 
its protectress, also withdrew in disgust. 



120 HYPERMNESTRA TO LYNCEUS. 

8. 
Later, all flushed with wine, the husband crowd, 

Fresh flowers about their hair, 
Each to his bed retired, all talking loud. 

The grave lay hidden there. 



Oppressed with sleep, they drew a heavy breath : 

Silence all Argos through. 
And soon there seemed as 'twere the groans of 

Nor seemed, for it was true. [death ; 

10. 

The sinful sound my cheek of blood bereaves ; 

On wedded couch of state, 
Trembling, like ruffled corn or aspen leaves 

That Zephyrs agitate ; 

11. 

E'en so my members shook, you sleeping sound : 

'Twas soporific wine. 
My father bade the knife : I rise, look round, 

And, all aghast, take mine. 

12, 

'Tis truth you read. Three times uplift the sword, 

Three times the deed to do : 
Three times it met your neck, — let say the word, — 

My father's sword to you. 

13. 

Nor heart nor piety the action dare, 

Nor hand obsequious : 
Rending my purple robe, my scented hair, 

I moan lugubrious, 

8. Fresh flowers. After carousing, they had renewed their garlands 
to enter the bridal chamber. 

12. Let say the word. Permit the truth to be told. 

13. Nor heart nor piety. Neither my feeling nor my good principles. 



HYPERMNESTKA TO LYNCEUS. 121 

14. 
" Hard, hard, oh Hypermnestra, yet the child 

" Must do her sire's command. 
<e Die this one too. Alas ! thy nature's mild, 

" The deed ill fits thy hand. 

15. 
" Now, while he ; s fast asleep, with sisters vie ; 

" Can it be that all are slain ? 
" If nature could this hand in murder dye, 

" Rather my blood the stain. 

16. 
" Why need an uncle's land attaint their lives ? 

" It might to strangers go. 
u And say the men are guilty, why the wives 

" Be doomed to strike the blow ? 

17. 

" Why swords for us ? poor girls have other call, 

" To ply the distaff thread." 
This spoke, a pause, while tears abundant fall 

Upon your dormant head. 

18. 
Seeking embraces, once your hands, outspread, 

Came close upon the blade. 

But now my sire, the slaves, the morn, I dread, 

And thus diversion made : 

19. 
" Wake, wake, Belides, now the only one, 
" Haste, or this night you die !" 

14. Alas, thy nature 's mild, O Hypernmestra ! 

15. Rather my blood the stain. It would be preferable to stain it with 
my own blood. 

18. And thus diversion made. Thus, leaving reflections, I commenced 
action. 

19. Belides. Son or descendant of Belus. The genealogy will be seen 
at the end of note 22. 

Now the only one of your family remaining. 

F 



122 H7PERMMSTBA TO LYNCEUS* 

Alarmed you rise : the fumes of wine are gone ; 
My weapon meets your eye. 

20. 
" What 9 s that f you ask. rt Begone/' I say again. 

You went while yet 'twas time. 
At break of day Danaus summed up the slain : 

One wanted to the crime. 

21. 

He rated sore at death deprived of you : 

At blood too sparing shed ; 
Condemning me, to whom were praises due, 

To jail unmerited. 

22. 
This, Juno's ire, too plain, from Io flowed, 

To beast transformed, then god. 
Was 't not enough a tender maiden lowed, 

Nor could obey Jove's nod ? 

23. 
An heifer near her father's border grown, 

In him her figure seen, 
Attempting plaint, she utters vaccine moan, 

Scared at her voice and mien. 

22. This, Juno' sire, too plain, from Io flowed. She seeks the source 
of her misfortune from a remote date. Io, daughter of Inachus, was 
priestess of Juno at Argos, and so beautiful as to awake the love of 
Jupiter. The god, however, could not hide his amour from the keen eye 
of Juno, and to save his mistress from the goddess' vengeance, he 
changed her into an heifer: hence, the tender maiden lowed. Juno, 
seeing through the artifice, begged the animal, which a polite husband 
could not refuse ; and Io was confided to the keeping of Argus, a shepherd 
with a hundred eyes. Jupiter, however, employed Mercury to kill this 
Argus, and set his Io at liberty. She wandered away under this trans- 
formation, continually tormented by a gad-fly, sent by Juno expressly 
to sting her. At length, she passed the sea to Egypt, where Jupiter 
restored her to her natural form, and she married the king Telegonus. 
Io, after her death, was worshipped as a goddess under the name of Isis. 
She is alluded to by Hypermnestra as being the origin of both their 
families, for Io had by Jupiter a son, Epaphus, who left a daughter, 
Lybya: she, by Neptune, became mother of Belus, who was grandfather 
of Lynceus and Hypermnestra. 

23. An heifer near her father's border. Io's father, Inachus, was 
tutelar deity of a river of the same name in Peloponcssus, on the borders 
of which he founded the city of Argos. 



HYPERMNESTRA TO LYNCEUS. 123 

24. 

You moan, poor wench, and peer into the stream, 

And count your horned feet ? 
"Whose charms a fear to Jove's proud sister seem 

Herb and green leaves must eat ! 

25. 

Inhale the rill, those horns your terror move, 

Dreading yourself to wound. 
Endowed with beauty for the bed of Jove, 

And bare on the cold ground ! 

26. 

O'er sea, o'er land, and cognate floods you roam : 

Land, sea, and flood receive. 
Whither, poor Io, wilt ? No place a home : 

That form you cannot leave. 

27. 
Ah, whither wilt ? You follow what you shun : 

Yourself you cannot fly. 
Yet Nile has seven fair ports ; your sufferings 

There find a remedy. [done, 

28. 

But why- tell things that from yore time derive ? 

My own gives sorrow birth. 
Father and uncle war : from home we drive 

To the far ends of earth. 



24. Whose charms. . . . You, whose charms. 
Jove's proud sister. Juno. 

25. Inhale the rill. If you drink at the rill. 

26. And cognate floods. And other rivers related to your father's, or 
flowing into it. 

27. There find a remedy. We have seen, note 22, that on the banks 
of the Nile she was restored by Jupiter to her natural form. 

2S. To the far ends of earth. Hypermnestra, after her long voyage 
from Africa, deems herself, in Peloponessus, at the end of the world'. 

F 2 



124 HYPEKMNESTRA TO LYNCEUS. 

29. 
The latter, fierce, enjoys the realm alone ; 

We a poor household keep : 
Of all the brother crowd remains but one ; 

Slayers and slain I weep. 

30. 

Sisters to me as well as brethren lost, 

Both my compassion raise. 
For that you live I die. What were the cost 

Of guilt, if such of praise ? 

31. 

Unhappy hundredth of a hundred ties 
Who fall, saved you alone ! „ 

But, Lynceus, me if you do not despise 
And do approve things done, 

32. 

Or help or give my bones to endless sleep, 

Consigned to furtive grave. 
My tomb, whereon a pitying tear you 11 weep, 

Let this inscription have : 

33. 

Of Hypermnestvas virtue sad the meed ; 

She saved her spouse and died. 
We've hardly ended, but these chains impede : 

To write more is denied. 



SO. What were the cost of guilt, if such of praise 1 What would be 
the reward of a guilty action if such is the payment of a praiseworthy 
deed? 

31. Saved you alone. You alone being saved. 



LETTER XV, 
SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

Abgukent. 

Sappho was a charming poetess and musician of Lesbos, whose works 
were all extant long after Ovid's time, but have since perished, except 
two fragments, fortunately spared as examples of their beauty. As it 
too often happens among artists, Sappho was of dissolute manners. 
After various amours, she fixed her affections, ardent as her nature, 
on Phaon, a youth of the same island, who, having used a cosmetic 
which he had received from Venus herself, had become the most 
beautiful of men. For a time Phaon returned Sappho love for love, 
but being led by his affairs to Sicily, he there forgot her. Burning 
with all the fire natural to her temper, and fearing herself despised, 
she resolved to try a remedy said to cure the malady of love, and that 
was, to throw herself from a certain white rock into the sea; but 
before executing the design she addresses this letter to her lover, 
M-ith a view to endeavour at least to bring him back to his former 
sentiments of tenderness, using all the arts of persuasion, setting forth 
her merits, and exciting his compassion by the picture of her sufferings ; 
leaving, in fine, no chord untouched that may make an impression on 
his heart. 



1. 

Is *T on inspection of our running hand 

The autographer you know ? 
Or to the verse's end must we be scanned 

To tell our name, Sappho ? 

2. 

You '11 ask perchance why the alternate strain, 

From her whom, lyrics suit ? 
A mind to weep. — Elegiac lines complain ; 

Too cheerly sings the lute. 

1. Running liand. Practice, as an author, gave her a fair pretension 
to write well and currently. 

2. TJie alternate strain. The verse alternately hexameter and pent- 
ameter, or six feet and five ; a measure which is also called elegiac. 

From her whom lyrics suit. All whose poetry has hitherto been of 
the lyric kind, or adapted to music. 



126 SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

3. 

I burn as when hot breezes fan the flame 
On fields of lighted wheat. 

The distant Etna boasts of Phaon's name : 
I burn with Etna's heat, 

4. 

No verse occurs to me to fit the lyre : 

True melody is free. 
Pyrrhian, Methymnian, Lesbian choir. 

Have no delight for me. 



Anactory 9 s despised, and Cydno too : 

The charm of Atthis gone. 
A hundred others left, and, wretch, for you, 

Who have me all alone, 

6. 

'Tis your sweet mirth, and that too lovely face, 

Face for my sight too fair ! 
With bow and lute you 'd take Apollo's place : 

Horned, a young Bacchus were. 



3. The distant Etna boasts of Phaon's name. Since Phaon is now in 
Sicily, where that mountain is situated. 

4. No verse occurs to me to fit the lyre. I can compose no songs now. 
True melody is free. Can only rise from perfect liberty of feeling. 
Pyrrhian, Methymnian, Lesbian choir. The concerts of the towns 

of Pyrrha and Methymna, and those of the isle of Lesbos in general. 
Some commentators, by the word Pyrrhiades, understand the Muses, 
in which sense we might have used the word Pierian; it would have 
suited our harmony incomparably better ; but we believe that Pyrrhian 
as above explained is the true sense. The next verse, in fact, names 
some of her too-intimate friends frequenting those concerts. 

5. Anactorie, Cydno, Athis. Three young women, her intimates and 
favourites. 

Wretch. This word, as the following lines clearly show, is used in a 
kind sense. 

6. Apollo. The most beautiful of the gods, who presided over the 
arts and light. As god of light he is often called Phoebus, as in the next- 
verse. 

Horned a young Bacchus were. Named with reference to wine, 
Bacchus is often represented horned, like the satyrs. 



SAPPHO TO PHAON. 127 

7. 
Phoebus loved Daphne ; Evan Gnossis too : 

Neither in lyrics read. 
The Muses ope their treasures to my view ; 

My fame far trumpeted, 



Far as Alcgeus', of my land and art, 

Though deeper sounds his lyre. 

Nature, who has denied me beauty's part, 
Paid with poetic fire. 



Short as I be, my name hath crossed the seas ; 

By fame my stature try. 
Perseus, Andromeda, though dark, could please 

She wore her country's dye. 



7. Phoebus loved Daphne. Phoebus, or Apollo, became enamoured of 
Daphne, a nymph begotten of the earth by the river Pineus. She fled 
from his embraces, and, on being overtaken, invoked the gods to her 
help, and was immediately converted into a laurel. The leaves of that 
tree became ever after Apollo's crown. 

Evan Gnossis too. Evan is Bacchus, just alluded to, the name being 
derived from an ejaculation used in his worship. Gnossis, or Gnossia, 
designates Ariadne, from the town of Gnossus, in the island of Crete, her 
country. We have seen, Letter II., verse 20, that Bacchus took her to 
wife when abandoned by Theseus, and that her car was drawn by 
tigers. We have seen also Letter X., from Ariadne to Theseus. 

Neither in lyrics read. Neither Daphne, or Ariadne or Gnossis. 

8. Alcceus, a Lesbian lyric poet, contemporary with Sappho, and of 
whose works also but small fragments remain. They are found with 
those of Sappho and Pindar, annexed to some editions of Anacreon's 
odes. 

Though deeper sounds his lyre. Though his style be more grave. 

9. Perseus, Andromeda, though dark, could please. Andromeda was 
a princess of Ethiopia, daughter ef Cepheus and Cassiopeia. All three 
are constellations of the northern hemisphere. Their kingdom was 
deluged by Neptune, and ravaged by a sea monster, to punish a boast 
of Cassiopeia, who pretended to surpass all the Nereids, and even 
Juno, in beauty. The only means accorded to relieve the country 
from this pest was to expose Andromeda to the monster, and with that 
intent she was chained to a rock ; but Perseus, then returning through 
the air on his flying horse, Pegasus, from his victory over the three 
sister Gorgons, and bearing with him the head of Medusa, the only 
one of them not immortal, presented the terrible countenance to the 
monster, which was immediately converted into a rock. Perseus then 
delivered Andromeda, loved, and married her. He also, after death, 
became a constellation, 



128 SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

10. 

Oft the white pigeon couples with the pied, 
The green bird with the dove. 

Shall you love none till by your beauty tried^ 
You'll never, never love. 

11. 

In reading 'twas you found my beauties glow : 
" What verve can equal this?" 

Quoth you. I sang, — Love treasures all, you 
My ditty won a kiss. [know, — 

12. 

And that pleased too : pleased you were every 
But most of all for love. [way, 

Now 'tis Sicilians nymphs. Brief here I '11 stay, 
Sicilia soon to prove. 

13. 

Sicilian fair ones, urge our wanderer's sail : 

Sicilians, maid or bride, 
Beware he tell you the same flattering tale 

Whereby we 're edified. 

14. 

And Erycina, of those hills the fame, 

Your votary defend. 
Shall adverse fortune ever rest the same, 

No hope for bad to mend ? 

10. Shall you love none. If you shall love none. 

12. Four lines are omitted in the middle of this stanza. 

Brief here F 11 stay. I will not remain long in Lesbos, but follow you 
soon to Sicily. 

14. And Erycina ofthosehUls the fame. Erycina is a name of Venus, 
from her temple on Mount Eryx, in Sicily. The mount took it name 
from Eryx, the builder of the temple, who was Venus' own son by 
Butes, a noted pugilist. Eryx succeeded to his father's art, and was 
killed in a bout with Hercules ; a finale of iisty-cuffs which is not yet 
quite out of fashion in merry England. 

Your votary defend. Defend me, who am your votary. 



SAPPHO TO PHAON. 129 

15. 
At seven years old inurned my sire's remains, 

Precocious tears I shed. 
My spendthrift brother sad unworthy chains 

Of love discredited. 

16. 
Keduced, with agile oar he scour'd the wave, 

Lost fortune to regain : 
Me ever hating for the advice I gave : 

111 will for honest pain. 

17. 

And, that acerbity should have no pause, 

A daughter racks my mind : 
Last you come here, of sorrow a new cause ; 

We sailed with adverse wind. 

18. 

Disheveled locks upon my bosom bare, 

No gems my wrist confine : 
Sordid my dress, no trinket in my hair, 

No myrrh, no musk divine. 

19. 
Dress ? and for whom ? Alas, with him afar, 

Whom shall my toilet please ? 
My heart, too frail with Cupid to make war, 

From love can never cease. 

20. 
Whether at birth the Sisters gave my part : 

" Here no hard thread to wind ;" 
Or that, with taste addict to works of art, 

Thalia made soft my mind, 

15. My spendthrift brother. Named Charaxus. He loved a courtesan 
called Rhodope, who, as it occurs with her successors in our own time, 
helped the youth briskly through his fortune, till at length he went to 
sea, and became a pirate." 

17. A daughter. Named Cleis, whom Sappho had by a man named 
Cericla. 

20. The Sisters. The ParcaB or Fates (see Letter XII. note 1). 

Thalia. One of the nine Muses, patroness of lyric poetry and comedy 
as Melpomene was the Muse of epic verse and tragedy. 

F 5 



130 SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

21. 

Is 't strange at puberty if love escape, 

Oozing the fibres through ? 
On him, Aurora, was to fear £hy rape. 

But Cephalus was new. 

22. 

Him did but Phoebe see, who sees from far, 

Phaon were now asleep. 
Him Venus had borne off in ivory car, 

But Mars the theft might keep. 

23. 

Oh lovely age, between the boy and man ! 

Oh, glory of thy sphere ! 
Come to these arms, to love me if you can, 

But let me love you dear, 

24. 

Writing, my eyes with plenteous tears are red ; 

See here what drops bedew ! 
Being sure to go, at least you might have said, 

" My Lesbian girl, adieu ! " 



21. On him, Aurora, tvas to fear thy rape, 

But Cephalus was new. 
I should have feared, Aurora, that you would have carried him off, 
but you had too lately carried off Cephalus. (See Letter IV. verse 24, 
" Cephalus was great in wood-craft.") 

22. Him did but Phoebe see, who sees from far, 

Phaon were still asleep. 
Phcebe, or Diana, or Luna (the moon), is said to have been so struck 
with the young shepherd Endymion, — whom, for his ambition to be 
immortal, Jupiter had condemned to live for ever, but in perpetual sleep, 
on Mount Latmos, — that she descended every night from heaven to con- 
template his beauty. Sappho suggests then, that if Phcebe, by chance, 
saw Phaon asleep in a similar way, she would keep him so to enjoy the 
contemplation of his loveliness. 

Him Venus had borne off in ivory car, 

But Mars the theft might keep. 

Venus would have been smitten with his beauty, and carried him off 

in her ivory car, drawn by doves, as she did Adonis, were it not that 

Mars, her accredited lover, might himself be enamoured of the beautiful 

youth, and keep him for himself. 



SAPPHO TO PHAON. 131 

25. 

"You bore from me no tear, no parting kiss ; 

I knew nor doubt nor fear : 
Of yours what left but wrong ? and yet, I wiss, 

Pledges of love you wear. 

26. 

No mandate I, nor any should have given, 

Except, — " Kemember me I" 
By your dear love, from this heart never riven, 

By the Muses' symphony, 

27. 
When certain voice repeated, " Joy is fled ! " 

Sappho could speak nor weep : 
Tear to her eye, sound to her voice was dead, 

As in eternal sleep. 

28. 

No shame when sense returned to beat my breast, 

To cry and rend my hair, 
As a fond mother for her loss distressed, 

Whose son a corpse they bear : 

29. 

Charaxus sees and glories in my tears : 

Passing, repassing still ; 
" What ails she Y 9 saying, as my grief appears ; 

"Her Cleis is not ill?" 



25. Of yours what left but wrong ? You leave nie no souvenir but the 
injury of having abandoned me. 

'Pledges of love you wear. You retain in your memory many proofs 
of my ardent affection. 

27. When certain voice. The internal feeling of the conscience. 

Sappho could speak nor weep. Could neither speak nor weep. 

29. Charaxus and Cleis. Her brother and daughter. 

" What ails she?" saying as my shame appears. "What is the 
matter?" asks he, when the shameful cause of my grief appears. 

"Her Cleis is not ill?" In irony: he knows the real cause of her 
grief, and also that she is rather indifferent as to Cleis, 



132 SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

30. 

Two masters none can serve : love banished 
All sordid grew my dress : [shame : 

But Phaon to my sleeping senses came, 
In dreams of loveliness. 

31. 

Bright with himself, though he be far away, 
Ah, joys gone ere you're told ! 

Locked in his amorous embrace I lay : 
His form these arms enfold. 

32. 

Meanwhile my fancy utters words like real : 

The senses are awake. 
His kisses warm upon my lips I feel, 

Apt both to give and take. 

33. 
'Tis vision ! all mere vision ! cruel spite, 

Such joy can only seem ! 
Titan is up to show all things in light, 

And me 'tis but a dream ! 

34. 
Now to the cave pr grove ; — nor grove nor cave 

Can aught. Once they have given 

Such bliss ! Dishevelled there I roam and rave, 

As by Erichtho driven. 

35. 
The conscious cave with chalky rock inlaid, 

Mygdonian stone to me ! 
Hard by the deli so oft our grassy bed, 

Shaded luxuriantly. 

33. Titan. A name of the sun. 

And me 'tis but a dream. And to show to me that it is all a dream. 

34. Erichtho. One of the Furies. 

35. Mygdonian stone. Marble. Mygdonia, on the borders of Phrygia, 
having quarries of that stone of the finest quality. Sappho esteems the 
chalk which reminds her of her love above the finest marble. 



SAPPHO TO PHAON. 133 

36. 

Absent the place's lord and mine, mere grove : 

Its charm with Phaon fled : 
The imprinted turf reminds of by-gone love, 

Yet unobliterated. 

37. 
I lie me down to touch where erst you lay ; 

The grass imbibes my tears. 
" He's gone \" the very foliage seems to say ; 

No warbling bird one hears. 

38. 

Progne alone, revenged with right yet blame, 

On Itys wont to call : 
Itys the bird, Sappho on Phaon's name. 

The rest is silence all. 

39. 

There is a sacred fount, as crystal clear, 

Where many deem a god : 
A lotus vast, itself a wood, hangs near, 

The ground a tender sod. 



38. Progne alone, revenged with right yet blame, 

On Itys wont to call. 

Progne is now a swallow, but was originally a beautiful girl, daughter 
of Pandion king of Athens, and married to Tereus king of Thrace. At 
the court of her husband she pined after her sister Philomela, and 
begged her husband to go and fetch her ; this he did, but unhappily 
became enamoured of the younger sister, and used violence to possess 
her. To keep his crime unknown, according to the usual progress of 
sin, he committed a still greater. He cut out the tongue of poor 
Philomela that she might tell no tales, confined her in an habitation 
apart, and told his wife that she had died on the road. Progne put on 
mourning, and got over the loss, but about a year afterwards she was 
informed of the existence of her sister, saw her, and, though deprived of 
speech, the latter found means to make known the whole atrocious 
truth. Thence Progne executed a revenge— rightful but blamable, for 
she killed little Itys, her child by Tereus, had his members cooked and 
served up to the father, Tereus, who ate of the dish, and after supper 
asked for the child. Instead of the boy came Philomela, and the queen 
explained on what meats her husband had feasted. Tereus would 
instantly have killed the women, but they were all suddenly meta- 
morphosed into birds. Progne became a swallow, Philomela a night- 
ingale, Tereus a hoopoe, and Itys a pheasant. 

m Itys the bird, on Phaon Sappho calls. The bird calls Itys, Sappho 
calls Phaon. 



134 SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

40. 

In tears, my weary limbs beneath it laid, 

I saw before me stand 
A Naiad, and she spake : " Your love ill-paid, 

" Seek the Ambracian land, 

41. 

" Where Phoebus' fane o'er sea commands the 
" Leucadia the name. [view ; 

(( Pyxp^a's Deucalion, diving thence into 
* ■ ( The deep, safe cooled his flame. 

42. 
" For love turned round, set Pyrrha's breast 

" Eelieved Deucalion stood. | [alight : 

" This virtue 's in the place. Go seek the height, 

" Nor fear to risk the flood/' 

43. 
This said, she disappeared. Fearful advised, 

My tears abundant flow. 
nymph ! thy counsel shall not be despised ; 

Mad love no fear can know. 

40. A Naiad. The Naiads and the Driads were inferior goddesses, 
the former presiding over brooks and rills, the latter over woods and 
fields. 

Ambracia. A country in Epirus. 

41. Leucadia. An island off the Ambracian coast, remarkable for its 
white rocks, as the name implies. 

Pyrrha's Deucalion. Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha performed the 
principal parts in a great inundation, which is said to have occurred 
some 800 years after that of Noah ; resembling its prototype also in being 
attributed to the anger of the deity, Jupiter, excited by the wickedness 
of men. Deucalion, then king of Thessaly, by the advice of his father 
Prometheus, built a vessel and rode upon the flood nine days, when the 
waters abated, and set him down on Mount Parnassus. He and his wife 
Pyrrha consulted the oracle of Themis as to what .they should do, and. 
received for answer that they must throw behind them the bones of 
their mother. They, interpreting this dark saying rightly, took up 
stones, considering the earth as the common mother of all flesh, and the 
rocks as her skeleton. These stones they threw behind them, and 
Deucalion's immediately became men, Pyrrha's women. It appears by 
the text, that Deucalion had some trouble to gain the love of his Pyrrha ; 
that he even despaired, and took the lover's leap. 

42. He stood relieved. Instead of loving Pyrrha, Pyrrha loved him ; 
but he was kind, forgot his grievances, and the match was made. 

43. O nymph, thy counsel shall not be despised. I will risk the 
plunge. 



SAPPHO TO PHAON. 135 

44. 

Hap what hap may, mine mends. Blow, breezes, 
My body 's light when thrown. [blow, 

Love with his pinions aid my fall below, 
Nor leave me there to drown. 

45. 

Receive my harp, thou god who lent it fire. 

Inscribed a distich be: 
Phcebus, accept the dying poet's lyre, 

Thou gavst, she gives it thee. 

46. 

But Phaon, to Leucadia's shore what call ? 

Come you, sweet bliss will follow. 
You 're more to me than health, Leucadia, all : 

You 're my benign Apollo. 

47. 
Can you, ruder than the wave or rock, 

Be said my cause of death ? 
Better while amorous arms each other lock, 

Than drowning, draw short breath ! 

48. 

My verses, Phaon, you were wont to praise, 

And love their easy flow : 
Would now they 'd verve ! but grief all genius 

And ills lay science low. [stays, 



44. Hap what hap may, mine mends. My hap, my fortune. 

Blow breezes, blow. Let there be wind to float me in the air, and ease 
my fall. 

45. Thou gav 'st, she gives it thee. Thou, Apollo, gavest me the skill 
of music ; 1 dedicate my harp to thee. 

46. But Phaon, to Leucadia's shore tvhat call. Why should I go to 
the Leucadian rock for my cure. 



136 SAPPHO TO PHAON. 

49. 
Now my worn strength replies : The harp in pain 

Is mute. The lyre is still. 
Ye Lesbian wives ! ye maidens of the main, 

Whose names our music fill ! 

50. 
Ye Lesbian fair ! once loved to my ill name, 

Cease in my troop to shine. 
Defunct the lyre that pleased : Phaon 's to blame, 

Phaon e'en now called mine. 

51. 
Attract him home : your bard to life restore : 

Tis he who rules her mind. 
Vain prayer ! he 11 be unmoved, nay hardened 

My words go to the wind. [more ; 

52. 
Would that which bears them hence might bring 
you home ! 
Why not ? 'twere too long stay. 
If, votive gifts prepared, you mean to come, 
Why torture with delay ? 

53. 
Up sail ; the sea-born Venus gives the wind : 

You but the anchor raise, 
And Cupid sitting at the helm you '11 find, 

To steer the safest ways. 

49. Whose names my music fill. Lesbos being her home, she must 
have sung the praises of many of her friends. 

50. Once loved to my ill name. Her love for certain women of Lesbos 
had been a scandal to her. 

Defunct the lyre that •pleased. The charms of my lyre are dead. 

52. Would that which bears them hence might bring you home. Her 
invocation to the ladies of Lesbos being ended, she now addresses Phaon, 
wishing that the wind which wafts her letter to him might bring him 
home. 

If, votive gifts prepared, you mean to come. If your ofFerings to the 
gods for a safe passage are ready, and you really mean to come. 

53. The sea-bom Venus. Venus, the goddess of Beauty and mother of 
Love, is said to have sprung from the ocean after the body of Uranus 



SAPPHO TO PHAON. 137 



54. 



But if you wish poor Sappho far away, 
(Hard to conceive such hate), 

Send her a cruel line the truth to say, 
And she '11 fulfil her fate. 



had been thrown into it by Saturn. The islands of Cythera and Cyprus 
both claim the honour of having received her first/ hence her names 
Cypria and Cytherea ; be it as it may, she is said to have risen and 
mounted straight to heaven. Jupiter soon became enamoured of her, 
but, being refused, he gave her to the most ill-favoured of his sons, 
Vulcan ; hence probably the amorous peccadillos of which the Queen of 
Love is accused. The first appearance of Venus on the sea is delightfully 
given by Anacreon in his 51st ode on a discus bearing a representation 
of the scene. Let it be allowed to give a translation of it : — 

Ha ! can the master-touch impart 

To metal life ? What freak of art 

Could dare the semblance here engrave 

Of ocean's ever moving wave ? 

What Jove-inspired mind so mighty 

To paint the enchanting Aphrodite, 

First essence of the gods above ? 

To show unveiled the Queen of Love? 

The all-forbidden beauties, save 

Which lie concealed within the wave, 

Whereon like the light sea-wrack lain, 

She tranquil rides the liquid plain ? 

See, where her course she deign to guide, 

Obsequious the waves divide, 

And leave with an applausive ripple 

Her snowy neck and rosy nipple. 

Behold in the blue furrow set 

A lily chased in violet. 

On silvery leaping dolphins placed 

Love and Desire, two wily-faced 

And sportive gods, are in her suite. 

Th' encircling choir of fishes fleet 

Dive wantonly as they espy 

The sailing Goddess' laughing eye. 



LETTER XVI. 
PARIS TO HELEN. 

Argument. 

Paris, known also by another name, Alexander (in English Helpnian), 
sailed with a fleet from Troy for Sparta, to achieve possession of the fair 
Helen, promised him by Venus. He was courteously received on arrival 
by the husband, Menelatis, who, however, was soon obliged to set out on 
a voyage to Crete, concerning the succession of his father, Atreus. 
During this needful absence, he innocently commends his wife to the 
care of Paris, and similarly enjoins her to pay great attention to their 
excellent guest. The lover Paris, deeming this opportunity by no means 
to be neglected, employs all the arts of seduction to gain the love of 
Helen, and in this letter signifies the violence of his passion, setting 
forth in the most vivid light as his own all the parts and qualities for 
which a lover may be prized, and letting no occasion slip of throwing 
contempt on Menelaus. In fine, he persuades an elopement, affirming 
that on board his fleet she will be safe from pursuit, and that, by the 
help of the Trojan powers, he is strong to defend her, even in case of a 
war. 

1. 

Pmamides sends health to fair Ledsea ! 

His but from her can flow. 
Shall he his feelings tell ? or are they clear ? 

And too pellucid show ? 



'Twere well my ardent love unseen could bide, 
Till fears were put to flight ; 

Tis hard dissembling : who a flame can hide, 
Self-evident in light ? 



1. Priamides. Paris, son of Priam. 

Ledcea. Helen, daughter of Leda. The rhyme of Ledcea with clear we 
confess to be illicit, but let it be observed' that our Saxon tongue pos- 
sesses no fit consonance to rhyme with Greek names ending in ca and ia. 
So in verse 65 we shall find the word aspire, and in the next Letter, 
verse 62, the word fire, used as rhymes to Hippodamia. 

2. Till fears tvere put to flight. Fears of being discovered by your 
husband. 



PARIS TO HELEN. 139 

3. 

Nay, an you will the word express the deed, 

I burn : — Tis even so. 
Pardon the avowal, nor severe proceed, 

But mild as beauty's glow. 

4. 

Sweet is the scroll received ! to hope we 're fain 

Keceived we may be too. 
Decrees we trust, nor aught decreed in vain : 

Venus' behests we do, 



Learn, for your weal: this comes from power 
No minor god my aid. [divine, 

Great the reward aspired, but rightful mine, 
By Cytherea paid. 

6. 
Guided by her across intricate seas, 

From the Sigean land, 
We came. The deity forstalled the breeze : 

Sea-born she may command. 

7. 

Still may she navigate my love the same : 

Safe landed by her laws. 
Not here we found but hither brought the flame 3 

Our distant journey's ca,use. 



4. Sweet is the scroll received. It is sweet to me that you receive my 
letter. 

Decrees we trust. We trust the promise of Venus as a celestial decree. 

5. Cytherea. A name of Venus, from the island of Cythera, near 
whose shore some say she first rose from the sea ; but that honour is 
more commonly awarded to Cyprus, whence she is also called Cypria. 

6. From the Sigean land. The land of Troy, from Sigseum, a pro- 
montory and town near that city. 

Sea-born. (See the last Letter, note 53.) 

7. Brought the flame, of my love. 



140 PAEIS TO HELEN. 

8. 

Urged by no storm, no faulty no adverse wind, 

Here all our wishes tend. 
Nor deem the voyage of a mercantile kind, 

My own the gods defend ! 

9. 

Nor curious to inspect a Grecian town : 

We have richer far at home. 
'Tis you the object, Venus -given, my own, 

For you long- wished I come. 

10. 

Before the eye your vision met the brain, 
Fame gave that face to know. 

Is it strange a long-drawn shaft my breast attain 
From the unerring bow ? 

11. 

Fate so decreed. Listen, ere you oppose, 

To what the truth shall say. 
Before my birth, the term drew near its close, 

Bourn between me and day, 

12. 

My mother dreamed that to her fruitful bed 

A lighted brand she bore. 
Alarmed, arose, and all to Priam said. 

The priests were bid explore. 

13. 

" Ilion," they say, "will burn with Paris 5 fire \" 
Who burns with fire ? 'tis I. — 

Grown up, a certain grace through mean attire 
Marked latent quality. 

8. My own. My own inheritance. 

10. Your vision. The idea of your person conceived in my brain. 

From the unerring bow, of Cupid. 

12. Explore. Study the dream, and find its interpretation. 

13. With Paris' fire. With fire caused by Paris. He uses his name, 
though speaking of himself unborn,— a fisure of speech they call pro- 
lepsis or anticipation, 



PARIS TO HELEX. 141 

14. 

There is a wooded vale in middle Ide, 

Within a gloom like night, 
Where peaceful sheep nor climbing goat abide. 

Nor quiet oxen bite. 

15. 

Here, leaning on a maple tree, in view 
The sea and Troy's proud wall, 

I hear the noise of steps : list what is true : 
Incredible withal : 

16. 

Before my sight, and borne on winged feet, 

Seemed Maia/s son to stand, 
('Twas given to see, be it given to repeat,) 

Caduceus in hand. 

17. 

With him three goddesses compressed the sod : 

Venus, Minerve, Juno. 
Trembling my limbs, first spake the winged god : 

" Courage, why shake ye so ? 

18. 

" You have taste; these goddesses from doubt 
" remove, 

" Which shall take beauty's prize \" 
Who can refuse behests envoyed by Jove ? 

He vanished from my eyes. 



16. Maias son. Mercury. Maia, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, was 
mother of Mercury by Jupiter. She is now the brig-litest of the stars in 
the constellation called the Pleiades. 

Caduceus in hand. Mercury wore a winged cap, called his petasus ; 
wings on his heels, called taloria; and bore in his hand a rod entwined 
with two serpents, which was called his caduceus : it had the power of 
imposing sleep, and even of raising the dead. These were the insignia of 
his oifice. 

18. Envoyed by Jove. The office of Mercury being that of Jupiter's 
messenger. 



142 PARIS TO HELEN. 

19. 

Now more assured, of fear removed the let, 

The charms of each we note. 
Worthy all seemed, but worthiest, with regret, 

All three I may not quote. 

20. 
Yet one there was in charms excelling more : 

You guess, the Queen of Love. 
All ardent vied, and, proffering gifts in store, 

Each for the verdict strove. 

21. 
Juno with realms, Minerve with valour fee'd, 

Doubt lies between the two. 
Sweet Venus smiling said, " Paris, take heed, 

" Their gifts threat pain to you. 

22. 
". From me have what you 11 love, fair Leda's 

" Fairer the daughter given/' [child, 

She spake, and, fairest of the trio styled, 

Victrix arose to heaven. 

23. 
Thenceforth my adverse fortune seemed to turn : 

" The royal youth/' they say. 
A joyful home regales the son's return : 

Troy notes the festal day. 

24. 
As you by me, sought too was Paris' love : 

To whom you now are all. 
Nor princesses alone to win me strove : 

Wood nymphs my heart would thrall. 

22. Fair Leda's child. Helen. 

23. " The royal youth" they say. Shepherd as I was, they now called 
me the prince. (See Letter V., Argument.) 

24. As you by me, sought too tvas Paris' love. As you arc sought by 
me so my love was sought by many. 

Wood nympJis my heart ivouhl thrall. Alluding to CEnone, whose 
connection he hints at as being slight, but we have seen by her letter 
(Letter V.) that she thought otherwise. 



PARIS TO HELEN. 143 

25. 

All were despised, form of beauty bright, 

To you, when hope arose. 
Keplete with you by day, still more by night, 

My mind, when eyelids close. 

26. 

Think what 'tis now, when all unseen you please, 

"We burned, the flame afar ; 
Nor would delay, but haste to cross the seas 

For you, my ruling star. 

27. 

The Phrygian pines then fall beneath the stroke : 

It ill the grove beseems : 
Stripped are tall Gargara's woods for elm and 
oak: 

Ida yields ample beams. 

28. 

Stout planks are made about the knees to turn, 

The ribs knit to the keel : 
Mast, yard, and sail are rigged, and, on the stern, 

The gods who guard our weal. 

29. 

Her, first, my patroness and her arch son, 

The sponsors of my vow. 
At length a final stroke : the work is done : 

The deep we 're fit to plough. 



26. Think what 'tis now when all unseen you please. If you excited 
love when yet unseen, think what it must be now that I contemplate 

your beauties. 

27. Gar (java, Ida. Mountains of Troas. 

28. The gods who guard our weal. The carved representations of the 
protecting gods. 

29. My patroness and her arch son. Venus and Cupid. 



144 PARIS TO HELEN. 

30. 

Father and mother both oppose my will, 

Delay me with their prayers. 
Cassandra comes in wildest deshabille, 

While seaward all prepares : 

31. 

" Whither away ? " she cried ; " those waters lead 
" To flame ! A brand returns V 1 

The word was true, the fire was found, indeed : 
In my own breast it burns. 

32, 

We leave, nor lack a wind : soon make the land, 
OEbalian nymph, called thine. 

Mine host was kind : here, too, we see the hand 
Of influence divine. 

33. 

He showed me all that Sparta could contain, 

Worthy the eye to see. 
To who the sight of Helen would obtain, 

All else was nullity. 

34. 

Seeing, we 're wonder-struck ; my inwards swell 

With aching sense oppressed. 
Me such a look, — oh, 'tis remembered well, — 

Venus on Ide addressed. 



30. Father and mother. Priam and Hecuba. 
Cassandra. His sister, a prophetess, deemed half mad. 

31. Those waters lead to flame ! A brand returns I Alluding to the 
solution of Hecuba's dream. (Letter V., Argument.) 

In my own breast it burns. Interpreting the dream in his own way. 

32. (Ebalian nymph. Meaning Helen. (Ebalia is an ancient name of 
her country, Sparta, from her own grandfather, (Ebalus. 

Mine host. Helen's husband, Menelaiis. 

Influence divine. The helping hand of Venus, whom he supposes to 
have prepossessed Menelaiis in his favour. 

84. Seeing. Seeing you. 

Venus on Ide addressed. When in the contest of the three goddesses 
on Mount Ida she wished to captivate his suffrage. 



PABIS TO HELEN. 145 

35. 

In that sweet contest had but Helen stood, 

The prize had been in doubt. 
Rumour upon your charms hath poured a flood 

Of praise ; no land without. 

36. 

The like will not be found to the earth's end ; 

No other has a name. 
Wilt believe ? you 're far above all they pretend : 

Their praise maligns your fame. 

37. 
Far more those charms than hearsay gives to 

Report outdone by cause. [learn ; 

Theseus saw all, and reason had to burn : 

His ardour could not pause. 

38. 

In Spartan games exposed, your beauties bare, 

A girl 'mong lusty youth, 
Glorious his act, which all would not repair : 

Too rich the prize in sooth ! 

35. In that sweet contest. That of the three goddesses already alluded 
to. 

36. Tlieir praise maligns your fame. Lessens it by expressing less 
than is your beauty's due. 

37. Report outdone by cause. Your fame of beauty surpassed by that 
beauty which is the cause of your fame. 

Theseus saw all, and reason had to burn. Theseus saw you, even un- 
dressed, as the next verse explains, and could not fail to be captivated. 

38. In Spartan games exposed, your beauties bare, 

A girl 'mong lusty youth. 
The simplicity of early manners rendered this possible in Greece, and 
the refined Asiatic seems a good deal struck by it. The Olympian 
athletic exercises were five in number, hence called Pentathlon. They 
consisted of running, leaping, wrestling, boxing, quoiting. The dis- 
putants were naked, their limbs rubbed with oil. Women were not 
legally admitted; but exceptions occurred, particularly among the 
Lacedemonians, the most devoted to those sports, and of all Greeca 
the most primitive in their manners. 

Glorious his deed, tvhich all wotrtd not repair. 
Too rich the prize in sooth. 
Theseus carried off Helen, at ten years old, by force, and kept her 
long concealed ; but she was recovered, and brought back pure by her 
brothers, Castor and Pollux. 

G 



146 PAEIS TO HELEN. 

39. 

Rather my soul should from its body part 

Than Helen from my bed. 
Thee should these hands allow to leave this heart ? 

Never, till life had fled. 

40. 

Once mine, and Paris' spirit you shall find : 

My flame ends at the Pyre. 
Realms offered by a goddess we declined, 

The spouse of heaven's own sire. 

41. 

To clasp thy neck, and listen to thy voice, 

We Pallas' guerdon leave. 
Nor e'er shall seek to 'meliorate our choice : 

The heart to its own will cleave. 

42. 

Then prithee suffer not our hope to die, 

worthy every cost ! 
'Tis no inferior seeks a noble tie : 

No jot of honour lost. 

43. 

Jove on Electra gat our race you '11 find, 

Not to name those between. 
My father's laws great part of Asia bind ; 

His kingdom's end unseen. 

39. Between this verse and the next, four lines of Latin are omitted. 

40. Realms offered by a goddess toe declined, 

The spouse of heaven's own sire. 
Juno, the wife of Jupiter, who, in the contest of the three goddesses 
on Mount Ida, tempted Paris with dominion. 

41. We IP alias" guerdon leave. I despised also, in the same contest, 
force offered by Minerva. 

The heart to its own will cleave. The heart will cleave to that whereon 
it fixes it affections. 

42. No jot of honour lost. In a connection with me you in no way 
lessen your nobility. 

43. Jove on Electra gat our race. Dardanus, the founder of Troy, 
was the son of Jupiter by Electra, one of the seven daughters by Altas 



PARIS TO HELEN. 147 

44. 

Cities unnumbered, fraught with splendid halls, 

Temples that awe inspire : 
Ilion you 11 see with her stupendous walls 

Eaised by Apollo's lyre. 

45. 

Innumerous throng of men there circulate, 

The lands suffice with pain. 
The crowd of dames come to felicitate 

Our rooms will scarce contain, 

46. 
Often, " How poor is Sparta \" will you say, 

" Each house a city's wealth ! " 
Not that one ought Achaia to gainsay, 

To me, 'tis wealth and health. 

47. 
But Sparta 's frugal : ah ! its style of dress 

111 fits your beauty's glow. 
Endless attire demands such loveliness, 

In new device to show. 

48. 
Seeing our men thus tastefully arrayed, 

Judge of the dames of Troy. 
Oh, be you one : let not the Spartan maid 

Deny the Phrygian's joy. 

and Pleias, hence called Pleiades, and now forming the constellation of 
seven stars bearing that name. From Dardanus descended Tros, Ilus, 
Laomedon, Priam, Paris. 

My father's laics. Here begins the lover's boast. 

44. Ilion. We see that the three higher ancestors have transmitted 
their names either to the country or the town : Dardania, Troja, Ilion. 

Eaised by Apollo's lyre. The city of Troy, being renowned for arts 
and navigation. Neptune and Apollo were assumed as its founders, and 
Apollo is said to have moved the stones by the harmony of his lyre. 

46. Each house a city's wealth. One house in Troy is as rich as the 
whole town of Lacedaemon. 

Achaia. Greece. 

47. Endless attire demands such loveliness. Such loveliness requires 
endless variety of dress. 

48. Let not the Spartan maid. Helen. 
Deny the Phrygian's. Paris's. 

G 2 



148 PARIS TO HELEN. 

49. 
From Phrygian root his pedigree is drawn 

Who pours the ambrosial wine. 
Phrygian Aurora's theft at early dawn 

When night-rays feebly shine. 

50. 
Phrygian Anchises, with the Queen of Love, 

Met in the Ideean shade : 
With me if Menelas for figure strove, 

My conquest cheap were made. 

51. 

From me no stepfather to fright the sun, 

And turn his team aside. 
No Priam's sire a bloody deed hath done, 

Nor stained the Myrtoum tide. 

49. From- Phrygian root his pedigree is drawn 

Who pours the ambrosial wine. 

The cupbearer of the gods was Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, daughter 
of Juno and Jupiter, but she was superseded in her office by Gany- 
mede, son of Tros king of Troy, who, on account of his beauty, was 
carried up to Heaven for that purpose by Jupiter's eagle. 

Phrygian Aurora's theft. Aurora's first amorous larcin was Tithonus, 
the son of Laomedon, and brother of Priam, whose beauty so tempted 
the rosy-fingered deity, that she carried him off one day before sunrise, 
and married him. Through Aurora's interest Tithonus obtained im- 
mortality; but he had forgotten to demand perpetual youth, so that 
his old age caused Aurora to give him a successor in Cephalus, as we 
have seen in the last Letter, verse 21. 

Night-rays. The moon and stars. 

50. Phrygian Anchises. Anchises was the son of Capys, and beloved 
by the goddess Venus, by whom he became father of zEneas, illustrious 
in the Trojan war, and hero of Virgil's great poem, the jEneid. 

51. From me no stepfather to fright the sun. Having shown his own 
pretensions in glowing light, he now begins to depreciate Menelaiis, 
and develope the tragedies of his family, which are no trifle. Helen's 
stepfather alluded to is Atreus king of Argos, not naturally bad, but 
led to frightful revenge by the offence of his brother Thyestes, who 
seduced his queen, and had three children by her. Atreus banished 
his brother from his court ; but, unsatisfied for the injury received, he 
sent for him back, caused the three children to be "killed, and, at a 
great repast to which Thyestes was invited, had them served up before 
him, and he partook of the dish, after which the heads and limbs of 
the children were shown to the father, who fled immediately to Sicyon. 

No Priam's sire a bloody deed hath done. He would imply that 
Pelops, the grandfather of Mcnelaus, murdered (Enomaus, king of Pisa, 
whose daughter Hippodamia he won, as we have seen (Letter A' III., 
verse 18), in a chariot race, and married. 

Nor stained the Myrtoum tide. The Myrtoum sea is a part of the 
TEgean, between Eubeea and Attica. Paris insinuates here, too, against 
Pelops, that he killed Myrtillus, his opponent's charioteer, and threw 
him into the Myrtoum sea, notwithstanding that the man, in losing 
The race, had acted dishonestly for his advantage. 



PAKIS TO HELEN. 149 

52. 

None in the vale of Styx fair fruit will catchy 

Nor thirst amid the lake. 
But what of this ? you with their scion match, 

And Jove their cousin make ! 

53. 

For shame ! all night his dull caresses paid 

With amorous embrace ! 
To me scarce visible till cloth is laid, 

From my insipid place. 

54. 

At banquet set oft feeling just such spite 

As at an enemy's feast, 
Hating the giver, fondling, in one's sight, 

His arm about your waist. 

55. 

Oh madness ! yet what profit all this told ? 

That wrapped in bliss he lies ? 
You kiss before my face, nay, kind. I hold 

My cup before my eyes, 

56. 

And turn away in jealous spite the while ; 

The food impedes my throat ; 
And deeply sigh. You with a wanton smile 

The torment seem to note, 

52. None in the vale of Styx fair fruit will catch. 

Nor thirst amid the lake. 
Alluding to Tantalus king of Lydia, who was the root of that family, 
which, as we see in Letter VIII., their scion, Hermione, terms Tanta- 
lian. Tantalus in hell was condemned to be immerged to the chin in 
water, continually thirsting, and unable to drink, the liquid ever 
escaping. Also to have fine fruit within his reach, but retiring if he 
attempted to touch it. 

You with their scion match, 
And Jove their cousin make. 
You, the daughter of Jupiter, marry Menelaiis their son, and thus 
ally a family so full of horrors to the King of Heaven himself. 

53. To me scarce visible. You are scarcely visible to me. 

54. Hating the giver. Menelaiis. 



loO PARIS TO HELEN. 

57. 
Quenching my flame with wine, it burnt the more, 

As fire to fire it grew. 
Much to avoid, we ruminate the floor, 

But quick revert to you. 

58. 
What remedy ? To see ? it racks my soul. 

Not see ? still more my woe. 
Well as may be dissimulate my dole ? 

But love through all will show. 

59. 
No painting this : you feel, yoil feel it all ; 

Would no one saw but you ! 
How oft I turn to hide the tears that fall, 

Lest he should see them too. 

60. 
Often o'er wine recount some lover's fate, 

Each word to you applied : 
My own distress in fable figurate : 

My own the love so tried. 

61. 

Oft, when a wanton thought might be expressed, 

Ebriety I feign. 
One day your tunic, open at the breast, 

Exposed love's rich domain. 

62. 
Whiter than driven snow, whiter than Jove, 

When Leda's breath he sipped. 
As stupified, my mind with feelings strove : 

The cup my fingers slipped. 

57. Quenching my flame with wine. Drinking to forget his love. 

59. Lest he, Menelaiis. 

60. My own the love so tried. As represented in the story just told. 
62. Whiter than Jove. Under the form of a swan, when he caressed 

Leda. 



PAHIS TO HELEN. 151 

63. 
You kiss Hermione : I seize the child : 

Crop from her lip the kiss, 
Then leaning backward hum a wood-note wild, 

Or wink, "Don't tell of this." 

64. 
First Clymene and iEthra of your train 

Precautiously I sound. 
They, little favouring, say my suit is vain, 

And leave me as they found. 

65. 

Would heaven to you 3 as prize of exploit done, 

The victor might aspire ! 
Hippomenes thus Atalanta won, 

Pelops Hippodamia. 

66. 
Severed Alcides Acheloiis' horn 

For Dejanire's embrace : 
So Paris would all dangers laugh to scorn, 

Helen the sweet solace. 

63. Hermione. The daughter of Helen and Menelaus, then a child, 
afterwards married to Orestes. We have seen her letter to her lover 
(Letter VIII.) 

64. Clymene and JEthra. Two of Helen's women. 

65. Hippomenes thus Atalanta won. Atalanta, the daughter of Schoeneus 
king of Scyros, attracted numerous admirers, but was too sincerely 
devoted to the worship of Diana to contract a marriage tie. In order to 
get rid of her lovers she proposed a race, on condition that whoever 
could win her should wed her. But the huntress was invincibly swift of 
foot, and, giving them the start, she bore a javelin to pierce her com- 
petitor if she should overtake him. Many perished. At length Hippo- 
menes, the son of Megareus, became a candidate, and won by the help 
of Venus, who furnished him with three apples from the garden of the 
Hesperides. These one by one he threw on the ground ; their beauty 
tempted the fair runner, she stopped to pick them up, and, thus losing 
time, lost the race. But she lost her heart too, so far as to grant 
favours to her lover even in the temple of Cybele, where they were 
married ; to punish which the goddess turned them both into lions. 

Pelops Hippodamia. We have seen, Letter YIIL, verse IS, that 
Pelops won Hippodamia in a chariot race. 
On the rhyme aspire— Hippodamia, see note 1. 

66. Severed Alcides Acheloiis' horn. Hercules broke the horn of Achc- 
lous. (See note, Letter IX., verse 35.) 



152 PARIS TO HELEN. 

67. 
None now remain to hear my moan but you : 

Deign to your feet I move. 
present boast of Leda's glorious two ! 

daughter worthy Jove ! 

68. 

Either with you in Trojan port my bride, 

Or exile here inhumed. 
No playful missile on my breast is tried ; 

This heart is love-consumed. 

69. 

Cassandra's bode was true ; 'twas heaven's dictate, 

Shot with celestial lire. 
Spare, Helen, to refuse what 's given by fate : 

So may the gods inspire ! 

70. 

Yet much remains to say, but to your ear, 

When closeted at eve. 
You honour married Venus, and yet fear 

A husband to deceive ! 

71. 

Too simple Helen, not to say, you fool ! 

Such beauty live sans blame ! 
Or change the face or break through virtue's rule : 

Beauty 's at war with shame. 



67. O present boast of Leda's glorious two. O you who are the 
glory of your two twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, sons of Leda. 

68. No playful missile upon my breast is tried : 

This heart is love-consumed. 
This is no pleasantry of Cupid ; my breast is wounded not only with 
his dart but with his flame also. 

69. Cassandra's bode. See verse 31. 

So may the gods inspire. That you may not refuse. 



PABIS TO HELEN, 153 

72. 

These thefts please Jove, nor Cy therea pain : 

Him for your sire procure. 
If there be force in seed you 11 not remain 

Leda's and Jove's and pure. 

73. 

Yet pure you shall be, once made mine in Troy, 

Me the sole cause of fault. 
What Hymen will sacrate, yours now the joy, 

Or Venus' powers but halt. 

74. 
The husband urges, not by word but deed, 

He quits, hap what hap can. 
To see his realm could no time serve his need 

But this ? wondrous man ! 

75. 
Parting he said, " To you, Nelly, the care 

" Of our Ida3an guest." 
We testify, you slur his parting prayer 

Nor tend to his behest. 

76. 

Think you, Ledaea, this man ever could 

Enough your beauty prize ? 
You are wrong. Did he appreciate his good 

He 'd doubt all foreign eyes. 

72. These thefts please Jove. Since his story is full of amorous 
intrigue. 

Nor Cytherea pain. Nor give pain to Venus, but, on the contrary, 
make her delight. 

Him for your sire procure. When he assumed the disguise of the 
swan. 

73. IVhat Hymen will sacrate. When we shall be arrived in Troy. 
Or Venus' powers but halt. For she will then stand obviously 

incapable of fulfilling her promise. 

74. The husband urges. Your husband, throwing occasion in our way, 
excites us to love. 

To see his realm. His late inheritance from his father Atreus -, object 
of his voyage. 

75. Idcean. Trojan, from Mount Ida. 

76. Ledcea. Daughter of Leda, Helen. 
This man* Menelaiis. 

G 5 



154 PARIS TO HELEN. 

77. 
Since nor for words nor for my love you care, 

His means at least we '11 try. 
Or greater fool than even he we were, 

Letting rich time go by. 

78. 

Himself just brings the lover to his nest : 

E'en let the good man do. 
Long nights alone a widowed couch you Ve 

A widower Paris too. [pressed : 

79. 

Once you with me connubial wishes crown, 

The night outshines the day ! 
Then 1 11 invoke your gods, and bind me down 

With vows yourself shall say. 

80. 

And then, or else my judgment steers far wrong, 
You 11 willing seek my home. 

If shame or fear that you to us belong, 
On me the censure come. 

81. 

Theseus my model, and your brothers twin : 

Could you be hit more nigh ? 
The first lifts you : Leucippus' nymphs they win : 

The fourth in rank am I. 



77. His means. Those which he gives me by quitting his home. 
We were. I should be. 

78. Let the good man do as he is doing. In French, " Laissez faire le 
bon homme." We should rather say, in English, " Let him alone." 

79. The night outshines. Will then outshine. 

81. Theseus my model, and your brothers twin, &c. Theseus earning 
off Helen has been noticed, verse 37. Her brothers, Castor and Pollux, 
ran away with Phoebe and Elaira, the daughters of Leucippus prince 
of Sparta. 

Lifts you. Carries off, runs away with, 



PARIS TO HELEN. 155 

82. 

My Trojan fleet is here both armed and manned, 

Our keels make rapid way. 
A queen upon the Trojan shore you stand ; 

The crowd a goddess say. 

83. 

Celestial odours on your path exhale ; 

The fatted victims fall. 
Nor father's, mother's, brethren's offering fail, 

Nor from Troy's gentry all. 

84. 

Alas ! of lowly homage to your charms, 

This a small part to say. 
Nor dread your flight for recourse had to arms 

By Greece in full array. 

85. 

How many rapt ! How few by arms are sought ! 

The dread is mere grimace. 
Aquilo's Thracians, with Erechthis fraught, 

Begat no harm to Thrace. 

86. 

With Jason erst Medea went astray, 

And hence no wars arise. 
Your Theseus Ariadne bore away : 

Minos but shut his eyes. 



83. Celestial odours on your path exhale. The people will offer in- 
cense to you, and adore you as a goddess. 

85. Aquilo's Thracians with Erechthis fraught. Erechthis is the 
patronymic of Orithya, daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. Not 
accepting the offer of Aquilo, or Boreas, god of the north wind and then 
king of 'Thrace, he caused her to be carried away in a gust of violence 
by his Thracians. 

86. With Jason erst Medea went astray. We have seen in Letter VI. 
from Hypsipyle, and Letter XII. from Medea, the love adventures of 
Jason. 



156 JPARIS TO HELEN. 

87. 
All in these thing less hurt than frighted are ; 

'Twere shame too much to dread. 
Yet, if it please, suppose the menaced war : 

We Ve strength to make a head. 

88. 

Asia hath means to match the Argive land, 

Rich both in foot and horse. 
Nor Menelas with greater heart would stand 

Than Paris, nor more force. 

89. 

A lad with men I fought to fend the flock : 

Thence Alexand' my name : 
In wrestling, when a lad, my nerves would lock : 

Ilioneus loved the game. 

90. 

Nor deem me void of danger but when nigh : 
My bow sends true its smart. 

Think you Atrides in these sports might vie* 
Strong in the gymnic art ? 

91. 

Give him his due : a brother Hector mine : 

He 's one without compare. 
Me you know not, my strength has hidden lien, 

Nor guess with whom you pair. 



89. Alexander. This second name of Paris, as we have seen in the 
Argument, signifies Jielp-man ; the present verse shows the cause of his 
having such addition. 

Ilioneus. One of the Trojan heroes, son of Phorbas, the eldest of the 
children of Priam. He survived the war, and followed iEncas to Italy. 

90. My bow sends true its smart. Paris was a first-rate archer, and in 
the tenth year of the war, after the death of Hector, brought down the 
great Achilles by a wound in the heel, the only vulnerable part of that 
hero's body. 



PARIS TO HELEN. 157 

92. 

Either then no recourse is had to war, 

Or the Greek forces yield. 
In truth for such a prize men would go far : 

Great stakes are on the field. 

93. 

Were in our quarrel the whole world at odds, 

Eternal fame to you. 
Once this place left under propitious gods, 

Boldly demand your due. 



93. Boldly demand your due. All the gifts and honours that he has 
promised from verse 44 to 49. 



LETTER XVII. 
HELEN TO PAKIS. 

Argument. 

Helen, having read Paris' letter, is at first offended, and expresses her 
anger : then, moderating, she begins to reason with him, and, defending 
her honour, combats his persuasions with arguments and much raillery, 
yet in such a manner as not to seem entirely to neglect his suit. At 
length, having completed her reasoning against his pretensions, she con- 
fesses her own feelings in his favour, and allows him to continue his 
attentions, provided his love be real, of which she expresses some doubt. 
She advises, however, in order to carry on their amour with safety, not 
to write but to communicate by means of her two attendants and 
faithful friends, iEthra and Clymene. All this was duly performed, 
and, their plan being settled, they departed together for Troy. 



1. 

Since your audacious writing met our view, 

Silence ill fits our fame. 
A stranger dares with boisterous heat pursue 

A lawful spouse to shame ! 

2. 

Was it for this, when to our haven come, 
Your landing none opposed ? 

For this, to afford a generous house and home, 
Our palace gates unclosed ? 



That wrong our hospitality should fee ? 

A welcomed guest turn foe ? 
These lines, no doubt, all truthful as they be, 

With j^ou for rustic go. 

3. With you for rustic go. Alluding to the expression of Paris in 
verse 71 of his letter, " Too simple Helen, &c." 



HELEN TO PARIS. 159 

4. 

Rustic an 't please, so to an honest part 

No soilure intervene. 
What though sincerity with joy of heart 

Display no tristful mien, 

5. 

Our honour 's pure and cheerful as we play, 

Makes no seducer's fame. 
More admirable you, to dare assay : 

What showed so sure a game ? 

6. 

Was % for that Neptune's hero took me off, 

Once rapt should be again ? 
Seduced we rightly had become a scoff ; 

Forced, we could bear no stain. 



And what advantage gained he over me, 

For tremor who stood quit ? 
Some kisses haply plundered boisterously : 

No boons that ill befit. 

8. 

Your freedom had not paused with the assault ? 

He was not you, thank god ! 
Restored intact, pudour redeemed the fault : 

In honour's path he trod. 



4. Rustic an 't please, so to an honest part 

Xo soilure intervene. 
So long as, not abandoning virtue, the course of my life continue to be 
without stain. 

6. Neptune's hero. Theseus, whom the poets sometimes make the son 
or descendant of Neptune, probably from his father's name, iEgeus, 
being also a surname of the ocean king. 

8. Had not paused. Would not have stopped. She alludes to his 
letter where four lines are omitted after verse 39, 






160 HELEN TO PARIS. 

9. 

Did Theseus stop that Paris might achieve, 

Lest fame intact remain ? 
This chafes me not, for love none misconceive ; 

But do you love, or feign ? 

10. 
That is the question : not for we lack faith, 

Or of our value doubt, 
But that to girls credulity is scathe, 

And truth you are said without. 

11. 

" How few are chaste ! A matron rarely quite !" 

Why not I one so rare ? 
And why, when mother you calumnious cite, 

Must Helen stigma bear. 

12. 

Quoting my mother 's fault, an error lies, 

As visually deceived. 
The sin by me were done with open eyes, 

My ruin self-achieved. 

13. 
Hers by the immortal doer stood excused ; 

My Jupiter were shame. 
As to your far-fetched lineage perused, 

We are great in our own name. 



9. Lest fame. My fame, my reputation. 

10. Not for we lack faith. I ask the question, not that I am predis- 
posed to disbelieve, nor that I doubt my own merit. 

11. Hoio few are chaste : a matron rarely. Alluding to his Letter, 
verse 70. 

And why, when mother yon calumnious cite. In answer to his 
verse 72 : 

" You cannot remain 
" Leda's and Jove's, and pure." 

12. As visually deceived. Jupiter being hid under the form of a 
swan. 

13. Hers by the immortal doer stood excused. My mother's fault 
stood excused by the majesty of the immortal who made her commit it. 

My Jupiter, My lover, Paris, would bring shame on me. 



HELEN TO PARTS, 161 

14. 

For, waiving husband's, father's pedigree, 

Tindarus', Pelops', worth, 
Fair Leda from the swan ennobles me, 

Primal of Jove brought forth, 

15. 

Go, then, enlarge upon your Phrygian rise ; 

Priam, Laomedon : 
AH reverend, but he of greater price, 

Your fifth, is Helen's one. 

16. 

What though Troy's sceptre forcible you deem ? 

Our strength can be no less : 
And, richer though in gold and men you seem, 

You are barbarous, I guess. 

17. 

So great in promises your letter sounds, 

A goddess 't would entice. 
Yea, but, were one disposed to step o'er bounds, 

Yourself were higher price. 

18. 

Were *t not perpetual fame to keep intact, 
You, more than gifts, were fear : 

Nor odious they, but far more would enact 
The man who makes them dear. 



Al everend. All respectable. 
Your fifth is Helen's one. Dardanus, the root of the Trojan royal 
family, was the son of Jupiter by Electra. See the line of genealogy 
in the last Letter, verse 43, note, where it appears that Priam is the 
fifth from Jupiter. " But," she continues, " your fifth in ancestry, your 
Jupiter, is number one in mine ; he is my very father." 

16. You are barbarous, I guess. Both Greece and Rome used the 
word barbarous to express a foreigner. 

17. Higher price. A greater attraction. 

18. You, more than gifts, were fear. Your person, more than your 
gifts, would be a cause of fear. Here ends her raillery, which now turns 
to confession. 



162 HELEN TO PARIS. 

19. 

Far more than gifts your passion flatters me, 

Your hope-led weary way : 
At table all your impudence we see, 

Disguise it as we may. 

20. 
Now, motionless, on me your saucy eye : 

Mine fascinated sink. 
Now greedily you seize my cup and sigh, 

And where we sipped you drink. 

21. 

Oft from the finger, or the speaking brow, 

Your telegraph is read, 
Of amorous hint : I, trembling, lest e'en now 

My husband turn his head, 

22. 
Have murmured ; " This bold fellow hath no 
shame :" 
And words of truth they prove. 
Writ on the board in wine appears my name, 
And underneath, " I love ! n * 

23. 
The script is answered by a shake : " No, NO ! " 

Alas ! we learn your style. 
And here a fall, had evil been to do, 

To some such flattering wile. 

24. 
'Tis true your form is rare, and many a maid 

Would fly to your embrace. 
Sooner another a chaste wife be made 

Than Helen see disgrace. 



23. By a shake. Of the head, in sign of negation. 
Your style. Of speaking by signs. 

And here a fall, had evil been to do. And to such seductive wiles I 
should have fallen had my propensities been vicious. 



HELEN TO PARIS. 163 

25. 

Learn, then, of me, nor beauty make your aim : 

Illicit good despise. 
Who knows how many have admired the same ? 

Not you alone have eyes. 

26. 
'Tis not that more you see, but more you dare : 

More heart ? no : but more face. 
Had fate but wilTd your vessel hither bear, 

When crowds sought my embrace, 

27. 
Seen in the thousand, you had been the one ; 

My lord would say no less. 
Tis now too late ; long since the prize is won, 

And other arms possess. 

28. 
Though well disposed the Trojan bride to act, 

From Menelaus free, 
Yet pri'thee do not my poor brain distract 

With importunity. 

29. 
Suffer we keep the lot to us allied, 

Nor my poor spoil contest. 
But Venus gave, when to your view on Ide 

Three goddesses undressed ! 

SO. 
One offering rule, another martial force, 

A third Atrides' wife. 
Hard belief, that gods to Paris have recourse 

To litigate such strife ! 



26. Had fate but ivill'd. If fate had but been willing. 

27. The one. The one of my choice. 
My lord. My husband, Menelaus. 

28. The Trojan bride to act. To follow you, and become a Trojan 
matron. 

29. Three goddesses undressed. Referring to his Letter, verse 17. 



164 HELEN TO PARIS. 

31. 

And though 't were fact, sure in the rest you 
dream, 

That Helen be the prize : 
Nor can our self-love credit first to seem 

In the fair goddess' eyes. 

32. 

Enough, my form approved to mortal view. 

Fair Venus we mistrust ; 
Yet nought repugning. Welcome her praise, too : 

Why question, — Is it just ? 

33. 

Chafe not that belief with me is hardly seized; 

Great things we doubt for true. 
My first delight is Venus to have pleased, 

My next to have tempted you. 

34. 

Nor Pallas' wit nor Juno's realms delight, 

Helen's attractions by ! 
Helen outweighs wealth, wisdom, power, and 
might ! 

Could heart of steel deny ? 

35. 

We are not hardhearted, only loth to love, 

Unable to confide. 
Who, wise, would seek an arid soil to move, 

Where harvest is denied ? 



31. In the fair goddess' eyes. In the eyes of Venus, who is beauty itself. 

32. Welcome her praise. Her praise is welcome. 

34. Nor Pallas' wit. Neither science and wisdom which Pallas 
offered you — nor Juno's realms, nor the dominion^ offered by Juno — 
delight in presence of Helen, the gift of Venus. 

35. JVho, wise ? Who, if he were wise ? 



HELEN TO PARIS, 165 

36. 

In Venus' larcin rude, the gods so speed, 

No art yet tried on men : 
The sileut characters which here you read 

Are primals of my pen. 

37. 

Tried hands work safe ; most inexperienced I, 

The way to sin is hard. 
Shame is an ill, and felt when every eye 

Seems to direct us ward. 

38. 

'Tis no vain fear : there are who scandal list : 

iEthra hears all they tell. 
Be cautious, then, unless you will desist ; 

Yet why ? who feign so well. 

39. 

Play circumspect : freer not wholly freed, 

Atrides being away. 
His absence is for cause of urgent need : 

The voyage bare no delay. 

40. 

So seemed at least, and, when about to go, 

Me saying: " Soon home you 'd best :" 

He kissed, and answered : " Mind the house ; also 
" Look to our Trojan guest/' 

36. In Venus larcin rude. Being very unskilful in the artifices of 
coquetry to pain a man's love. 
The gods so speed. So may the gods be good to me as I speak true. 
The silent characters which here you read 
Are primals of my pen. 
The words on this paper are the first I ever wrote on such a subject. 

38. JEthra. Her attendant. 

Yet w\y? ivho feign so tcell. Why should you who know so well 
how to feign desist from the love which you can so easily conceal? 

39. His absence is for cause. The succession of his father, Atreus. 

40. So seemed. So it seemed to me. 

" Soon home yon had best." You had better ccme back quickly : inno- 
cent pleasantry between wife and husband. 



166 HELEN TO PARIS. 

41. 

To hide a laugh my lips compressive strain, 

And briefly say, " I will." 
In fine, for Crete they navigate the main. 

Make it no cause of ill. 

42. 

Absent my lord, but absent still to guard : 

Long is the regal arm. 
Fame, too, is charge : the more with praise you 

More founded his alarm. [fard, 

43. 

My glory, as things are, is now my bane : 

Better that fame unjust. 
Nor wonder at his leaving without pain ; 

In my fair name he has trust. 

44. 

Beauty breeds doubt, morals security : 

One faith inspires, one fear. 
You would exploit the opportunity 

He kindly gives you here. 

45. 

We would an' if we durst : there lies the strife 

Doubt harasses my heart : 
The husband gone, you leading single life, 

Pleasing on either part. 

46. 

Conversing oft and lonely the long night : 

Both fair and both too near. 
Moody if to the crime all not invite, 

What hinders but the fear ? 



42. Long is the regal arm. A king's vengeance extends far. 
Fame, too, is charge. Reputation is a charge, since it requires pains 
to maintain it. 



HELEN TO PARIS. 167 

47. 
The ill you teach, 'twere well that strength assure : 

Forced my rusticity. 
A wrong is good at times to who endure : 

Mine be such injury. 

48. 
Or rather while 'tis new our love oppose : 

Wet a new flame, 'tis done. 
Unstable faith 'mong guests : like them love goes ; 

Y ou think it safe — 'tis gone. 

49. 
Ariadne and Hypsipyle, to wit, 

Sighed in deserted bed. 
GEnone, traitor, long your firmly-knit, 

You leave unhusbanded, 

50. 
Deny not : things to you that appertain 

We know in full detail. 
Add more : you cannot, if you would, remain ; 

Your Trojans rig their sail. 

51. 

While this with hope you read, the evils brew, 

The anchor up you 11 find. 
Joys in mid progress left, as rich as new, 

Our loves go to the wind. 

47. 'Twere well that strength assure. She hints that a violent act 
on his part, as carrying her off by force, would remove from her mind 
the difficulty of a consent. 

Forced my rusticity. Alluding: again, as in the 3rd verse, to his expres- 
sion in his 71st, " Too simple Helen." 

43. Or rather while 'tis new. A feint of returning to virtuous resolu- 
tions, yet not from fear of sin, hut from doubt of his constancy. 

49. Ariadne and Hypsipyle. We have seen, Letter VI., the complaints 
of the latter against Jason, and in Letter X. those of the former against 
Theseus. 

(Enone, traitor. We have also seen, in Letter V., CEnone abandoned 
by Paris. 

50. Your Trojans rig their sail. Your men are resolved to depart. 



168 HELEN TO PARIS. 

52. 

Or say we join, and visit lofty Troy, 

Grandsire Laomedon: 
Beware of scandal the acute annoy, 

My shame commented on ! 

53. 
What buzzing in Achaia brought to life ! 

In your own Troy what din ! 
What will old Priam say, and his good wife ? 

Your brethren ? all your kin ? 

54. 

Ev n your own faith in me will die away, 

Experienced untrue. 
Whatever stranger enters Ilian bay 

Brings jealousy to you. 

55. 
How oft in anger will you dub me " Stale V 

Forget the fault your own ? 
Author and censor : rather Tellus veil 

My beauties under stone ! 

56. 
But we '11 have Trojan wealth, immortal cult, 

The promised gifts and more : 
Purple and sparkling gems the rich result 

And gold in endless store, 

57. 
Pardon the freedom : gifts we value light. 

Sparta my home is made. 
If wronged in Phrygia who shall do me right ? 

What parent's brothers', aid ? 

52. Or say ivejoin. Suppose that I join the ship after the anchor is 
up, and that we visit Troy together. 

53. In Achaia. In Greece, my country. 

55. Forget the fault your oxen. Forgetting that yourself was the cause 
of leading me to ill. 

Tellus. The Earth, the most ancient of the gods after Chaos. 

56. But ice '11 have Trojan wealth. Alluding to his Letter, verse 46 
to 48, where he displays the splendour that awaits her at Troy. 

57. What -parent* s> brothers', aid ? The parent alluded to is Tyndarus ; 
the brothers, Castor and Pollux. 



HELEN TO PARIS. 169 

58. 
Medea, Jason promised all ; was she 

The less by him exiled ? 
Neither Ipsea nor Chalciope 

Would harbour her reviled. 

59. 
No such my fear nor anxious was Medee, 

Yet her fair hope declined. 
All ships to perish tempest-tossed at sea 

Leave port with favouring wind. 

60. 
Your mother's dream is fear, the burning brand 

Preauguring your birth. 
The trist solution : " Fire from Grecian strand 

" Burns Ilion to the earth V* 

61. 

Just as we hope in Cytherea who 

A double trophy bore, 
So if your boast be troth, awful the two 

Who for their check are sore. 

62. 
No question but a flight will move to arm : 

Love will bring sword and fire. 
The Haemonians wrought the Centaurs bloody 

For wronged Hippodamia. [harm 

58. Medea, Jason promised all. Jason promised Medea everything a 
lover could promise. 

Ipsea, Medea's mother. Chalciope, her sister. See Letter XII., 
Medea to Jason. 

60. Your mother's dream. Referring to his Letter, verse 12. 

61. Cytherea who a double trophy bore. Double because Venus won 
the prize of beauty against two competitors, Juno and Minerva, of whom 
she expresses her fear at the end of the verse, " Awful the two who for 
their check are sore." 

62. The Hcemonians wrought the centaurs bloody harm. The Haemo- 
nians are Thessalians, and thus named from Mount Hamms. Helen 
combats Paris' assertion in his 85th verse, that affairs of this kind are 
generally hushed up, by instancing the battle of the Lapythre, a Thes- 
salianor Hsemonian party, against the Centaurs at the marriage of Hip- 
podamia. See Letter II., verse 18. 

See note 1, Letter XVI. concerning rhymes such as fire, Hippodamia, 

H 



170 HELEN TO PARIS. 

63. 

Atrides deem you to just vengeance slow ? 

And my twin brothers too ? 
You largely boast ; with martial fury glow ; 

Great talkers little do. 

64. 

You are Venus' boy, not Mars'. The strong let 
Paris shall only love. [%ht, 

Let Hector whom you vaunt defend the right, 
You softer combats move. 

65. 

And us they move, if we but dared to try ; 

Girls will do if they may. 
Yes, we perhaps will do, pudour laid by, 

And conquered yield some day. 

66. 

A colloquy you ask — our private verb : 
We know whereto you would. 

Tis going too fast. Your grain is yet in herb. 
Delay for your own good. 

67. 
So far the secrets of my heart expressed. 

My lengthy letter ends. 
From Clymene and Mthm, learn the rest ; 

Companions both and friends. 

63. Atrides. Her husband Menelaiis, son of Atreus. 
Twin-brothers. Castor and Pollux. 

64 Let Hector tvhom you vaunt. At the conclusion of his Letter. 
66. Our private verb. A private interview. 



LETTER XVIII. 
LEANDER TO HERO. 

Argument. 

The Hellespont, or strait leading from the iEgean Sea to the Propontis, 
now called the Sea of Marmara, is about a mile across. It has on the 
European side the town of Sestos, where Hero lived ; and on the Asian 
side that of Abydos, where dwelt the family of Leander. He, desperately 
in love with the Maid of Sestos, used to swim over the water at night 
to her embrace ; but, the sea being rendered impracticable by stormy 
weather, seven days had passed without his being able to enjoy a sight 
of his mistress, and he despatches this letter by a hardy mariner who 
ventures on the trip in spite of the weather. The writes first developes 
his love, showing it to be most ardent and constant ; then complains 
bitterly that, by the tempest, he is denied to pass the sea. He engages, 
in fine, to do so shortly, be the weather as it may, and, in spite of the 
waters' rage to dare their danger rather than want the sight and 
converse of all he holds dear. 



1. 

The Abydenian sends — what more 'twould please 

From his own lips to give — 
Health to the Maid of Sestos ! But the seas 

Will let no swimmer live. 



Are to my love the heavenly powers benign, 
These words you 'd fain not read. 

But hostile are the gods who here confine, 
Nor onward let me speed. 



1. The first four lines render two of the Latin. 
TJie Abydenian. Leander of Abydos. 

Th e Ma id of Sestos. Hero. 

2. Are to my love the heavenly powers benign. If the heavenly 
powers are favourable to my love. 

H 2 



172 LEANDEK TO HERO. 

3. 

Behold the murky sky, the swelling sea : 
Ships dare not hold their way. 

One hardy pilot takes this scroll for thee, 
And ventures from the bay. 

4 

Myself had gone, but, crowded as the shore, 

While they the halser slid, 
No way to shun my parents as before : 

Our love had not lien hid. 

5- 
My mind while writing muses : €€ Happy scroll ! 

" Beneath her finger tip : 
" Her ivory teeth will break the wax to unroll : 

" You 11 touch her coral lip." 

6. 

Some such like words escape as we indite, 

The rest on paper see. 
More gaily would this hand exert its might 

Across the well-known sea. 

7. 

More apt indeed at cutting o'er the stream, 

Yet it tells well my mind. 
Seven tedious nights, to me a year they seem, 

The waves war with the wind. 



Let slumber in the night enwrap my sense, 

My dream is tempest-toss'd. 
Watch on Abydos' rock, my mind intense 

Embraces Sestos coast. 

4. Our love had not lien hid. The family of the youth is much 
richer than that of the maiden, hence the need of secrecy. 

7. Yet it tells tvell my mind. With the pen in writing. 

8. Watch on Abydos' rock. If I watch. 



LEANDEB TO HERO. 173 

9. 

The lantern to your beacon tower allied 

I see or seem to see. 
Thrice on the beach my raiment laid aside : 

I tried the rolling sea. 

10. 

The mountain billow set my will at nought, 

Merged in its trough I lay. 
But you, of winds the rudest ever thought, 

Boreas, why spite me ? say. 

11. 

Cruel, with me not with the waves you vie. 

What ? had you never loved. 
Cold as be Boreas, yet he 11 not deny 

Actaean flame he proved, 

12. 

Him joyward bound, suppose some power to 
And hold ; how he 'd contend ! [seize, 

Then, Boreas, spare and move a milder breeze : 
So Eolus be your friend. 

13. 
Vain proffered prayer ! so loth the flood to allay, 

With rabid verve he sings. 
Ah, Dedalus, though near thy fatal bay, 

Couldst lend me but thy wings ! 

9. The lantern to your beacon tower allied. Hero set up every night. 
a lamp at her window as a signal that she was there, and ready to receive 
her lover. 

10. Boreas. The north wind, the rudest of all from its cold in winter 

11. What ? What would you have done ? 

Actcean fiameheprov'd. Boreas, also called Acuiiio, experienced an 
Athenian ilame, when, as we have seen, Letter XVI., verse 85, he courted 
Orythia, daughter of Erectheus king of Athens. 

12. Eolus. The sovereign of the winds. 

13. With rabid verve he sings. The wind whistles as if in mad 
mockery of his complaint. 

CouUVst lend me but thy wings. Dedalus, one of the most acute of 
inventive artists, was an Athenian. We have seen, Letter III., verse 15. 



174 LEANDER TO HERO. 

14. 

We 'd try how be it the aerian field to use, 

Experienced flood and blast. 
Meanwhile that wind and sea deny, we muse 

On happy moments past. 

15. 

The sun was set : 'tis pleasure to recall : 

Enamoured leaving home, 
Quickly the vesture off and fear withal, 

A plunge divides the foam. 

16. 

Trembled the moonbeam on the liquid field, 

Companion of my way. 
" Goddess/' I cry to Luna, " convoy yield ; 

" Latmus with joy repay ! 

17. 

a So thy Endymion e'er be kind and sooth, 

(i Bend thy soft light on me, 
" Thou lov'dst a mortal, my sweet flame in truth 

" A goddess well might be. 

18. 

u Her manners worthy of the heart divine 
" Within her breast that warms : 

" No fairer face but Venus's and thine 

" Believe, for you see her charms. 



that he prostituted his skill in serving the unnatural desire of Pasiphae in 
Crete. For this he was confined in the labyrinth of his own constructing, 
and his son Icarus with him, by King Minos. In order to effect their 
escape he constructed wings of feathers and wax, and they both took 
flight together. Crossing the sea, however, Icarus mounted too high : 
the heat of the sun melted the wax, his wings fell to pieces, and he 
into the water, where he was drowned. 

16. Luna, or Phcebe, or Diana. The moon. 

Latmus with joy repay. May Latmus repay your kindness by the 
joy you will experience there. Latmus is the mountain in Caria on which 
Endymion slept when Phoebe fell in love with him. See note, Letter XV., 
verse 22. 



LEANDEK TO HERO. 175 

19. 
" Your orb refulgent comes in silver glow : 

" All starry lights out-shined. 
(i So she in beauty first. This you must know, 

" Or Cynthia s light is blind." 

20. 
Musings like these, or something near the same, 

Beguile my nightly way. 
The wave, bespangled with Diana's flame, 

Rivals a dawn of day. 

21. 
No noise, no murmur heard, nor aught to move, 

Save me upon the main. 
The Alcyons only, twittering Ceyx's love, 
. Seem sweetly to complain. 

22. 
Weary, the wave we pr t ess with elbow square, 

Our view to raise the more. 
We catch your light, and say, " My flame is there, 

" My star is on that shore." 

23. 

Lost vigour here returns : as firm as bold 
Through milder sea we move. 

Why feel we no effect of nipping cold ? 
The heart is warm with love. 



19. So she. Hero. 

Or Cynthia's light is blind. Cynthia is another name of the moon, 
Apollo and Diana being called Cynthius and Cynthia fnom Mount 
Cynthus in Delphos, the site of their great temple. 

20. Diana's flame. The moon's rays. 

21. The Alcyons only twittering Ceyx's love. The Alcyons, or Hal- 
cyons, are the. birds commonly called the king-fisher. The species was 
originally a beautiful girl, called Alcyone, daughter of Eolus. She 
married Ceyx, son of Lucifer, who was drowned on his return from 
Delphos, where he had been to consult the oracle. The wife had a pre- 
sentiment p f his fate in a dream, and, seeing soon afterwards his body 
washed ons hore, she threw herself into the sea, and they both became 
halcyons, or king-fishers. 

22. Weary, the wave we press with elbow square. In the action 
which swimmers call treading water, % 



176 LEANDEK TO HERO. 

24. 

And nearer as the well-known rocks appear, 
Our nerves grow vigorous strong. 

But once yourself in view, spectatress dear ! 
Tis then we cut along. 

25. 

Aiming for your applause the stroke to urge, 
With grace, as swimmers ken. 

Old nurse scarce keeps you from the foaming 
I saw 't : no cheating then. [surge ; 

26. 

Now hard to hold, what effort she can make, 

Your little feet are wet. 
At length we clasp, and sweetest kisses take : 

Great gods ! worth seas to get. 

27. 

Across my shoulders now a cloak you throw: 

Press water from my hair. 
The rest of night well doth the turret know, 

And lamp that guides me there. 

28. 
No more could I describe that heavenly night 

Than Hellespontus' weed, 
And fewer moments given to our delight, 

To snatch them more the need. 

29. 
But now the herald Lucifer precedes 

Tithonus' spouse, Aurore ; 
And, kisses multiplied while time accedes, 

We sigh the night 's no more. 

28. TJian Hellespontus' weed could describe it. 

29. The herald Lucifer. The morning star. 

Tithonus' spouse, Aurore. See Letter XVI., note 49, on " Phrygian 
Aurora's theft," * 



LEANDER TO HERO. 177 

so; 

Compelled at length old nurse's hint to see, 

We strain a last adieu, 
And part. Remeasuring the virgin sea, 

I look till lost your view. 

31. 
Onward to thee one swims : the backward line 

Mere wreck, nor power nor will : 
And, believe it too, theevvard the waves decline, 

Hither 'tis all up-hill. 

32. 

Loth to reach home as not to home allied : 

Home now to me is none. 
Alas ! that two such hearts the seas divide, 

Two made to be in one. 

33. 

Let Sestos me or you Abydos take : 

Either would please the twain. 

My soul 's disturbed as often as the lake ; 
Light air makes heavy pain, 

34. 
Our loves the dolphins seem to understand, 

And other fish to feel : 
My very path is known from land to land, 

Like furrows of the wheel. 

35. 
'Twas my complaint no way but this to have, 

Which losing makes me sigh. 
Foam o'er the sea of Helle tops the wave : 

Ships ill at anchor lie. 

30. The virgin sea. The Hellespont, named from the virgin Helle. 
See Letter XII., note 2. 

31. Mere wreck. I am a mere wreck on the water, without force 
or will. 

33. Let Sestos me. Sestos her town, Abydos his. 

Light air makes heavy pain. The sir, light body as it is, when 
agitated to storm makes pain, which is heavily afflictive. 
35. The sea of Helle. The Hellespont. 
H 5 



178 LEANDER TO HERO. 

i" - • • • • - 

36. 

This sea its epithet when first it bare, 
Must then have been the same : 

Ill-starred from Helle, and, though me it spare. 
It has an evil name. 

37. 

Phryx is my envy, whom in air along 

The golden ram conveyed : 
Yet coveting nor ship nor sheep so long 

As a calm sea be made. 

38. 

No art for me : sea-room and leave to swim, 

The same my ship and crew. 
Let Arctos teach the Tyrian sails to trim : 

My polar star, 'tis you. 

39. 

One seeks Andromeda, and one the Crown, 

And one the Greater Bear : 
Nor Perseus', Jove's, nor Bacchus' love we own, 

As guide whereby to fare. 



37. Phryx. The brother of Helle. See on the subject of the golden 
ram, Letter XII., note 2. 

38. The same my ship and crew. I, the swimmer, am ship and 
navigator. 

Let Arctos teach the Tyrian sails to trim. Arctos here expresses the 
constellation of Ursa Minor, whose principal star marks the north pole. 
Tyrian sails, because ancient Tyre was the great emporium of the world 
for fleets and commerce. 

39. One seeks Andromeda, and one the Crown, 

And one the Greater Bear. 
Andromeda, the Crown, and the Great Bear are all constellations in 
the northern region of the heavens, and were all originally beautiful 
women. Andromeda, as we have seen, in note on Letter XV., verse 9, 
was saved and espoused by Perseus. The Crown is Ariadne, who 
addresses the tenth Letter to Theseus. (See, as to the Crown, Letter II., 
notes 19 and 20.) The Greater Bear was Calisto, one of Diana's nymphs, 
deceived by Jupiter under the form of Diana herself. Juno, in revenge, 
changed the lady into a bearess, but Jupiter in compassion placed her 
in the heavens as the constellation named Ursa Major. Hence the next 
line, — Perseus', Jove's, and Bacchus' loves, — indicates Andromeda, 
Calisto, -and Ariadne. 



LEANDER TO HERO. 179 

40. 

Yonder 's another flame surer than these, 

Guide of my love to shine : 
Be that my cynosure to cleave the seas 

True as Thessalian pine. 

41. 

We 'd vie with young Palsemon o'er the tide, 

Or him made god by weed. 
When with continued stroke my nerves are tried, 

Onward inept to speed, 

42. 
I say, " Good arm, 'tis no small prize to hold 

" Her neck in close embrace/' 
Renewed at once, strike forward firm and bold 

As runners in the race. 

43. 
Tis then we follow where the loves entrain 

For thee, my heavenly aim ! 
Thee worthy heaven, but earthly still remain 

Or lead me to the same. 

44. 
Earthly you are and yet to me denied, 

The seas distract my heart. 
And what avails our channel be not wide ? 

No less we are apart. 

40. Yonder is another flame. That is, your lamp at the window. 
Thessalian pine. The expression indicates Jason's famous ship Argo, 

which was built in Thessaly. 

41. Young Palcemon. He was the son of Athamas and Ino, and 
originally called Melicerta. Being one day in danger of his life from his 
father's anger, his mother, Ino, snatched him in her arms and leapt 
with him into the sea, where Neptune had pity on them, and they at 
once became sea-gods. Ino was afterwards called Leucothoe and 
Melicerta Palsemon. 

Or him made god by weed. This was Glaucus, a fisherman of Antedou 
in Beotia, and son of Neptune and Nais. At work one day with his line, 
he perceived that all the fish he took and laid on the grass acquired 
new vigour and leaped back into the sea. Attributing this effect to the 
grass, he tasted of it, and immediately felt a propension to plunge into 
the sea, which he did. Oceanus and Thetis made him a sea-deity. 

43. Or lead me to the same. The same heaven with you. 



180 LEANDER TO HERO. 

45. 

Were it not better at creation's end ? 

My hopes all far away ? 
The nearer you my vitals more incend : 

Hope tortured by delay. 

46. 

My love so near : as if in reach she lies. 

That well-nigh makes me weep. 
What is 't but thirsting for the fruit that flies ? 

Water that mocks the lip ? 

47. 
You, near me, but at will of wave to find : 

No storm can see me blest. 
Though nothing falser than the waves and wind, 

There hope alone can rest. 

48. 

'Tis summer yet : what when the Pleiads rain ? 

Bootes' rude seas toss ? 
Or know we not how links of love entrain, 

Or still the flood we cross. 

49. 

Nor deem, the thing far off, we promise well. 

Soon you shall see the proof. 
Continue but a while this awful swell, 

'Tis tried, however rough. 

46. Wliat is 't but thirsting for the fruit that flies. 

Water that mocks the lip. 
Alluding to the punishment of Tantalus, noted Letter XVI., verse 52. 

48. What when the Pleiads rain ? 
Bootes' rude seas toss? 

A star culminating at midnight was considered to have a certain 
influence. Now the constellation of the Pleiads or Pleiades comes to 
the meridian at midnight in the middle of November, that of Bootes in 
the beginning of December, which are the season of winter and rude 
weather. 

Or know ive not. Either we do not know. 

49. The thing far off. Because the danger is now at a distance, 



LEANDER TO HERO. 181 

50. 

Either my happy efforts safe arrive, 

Or death my love to end. 
Still wishing on to Sestos' shore to drive, 

TW'rd you in death to tend. 

61. 

You 11 weep : that hand to grace my corse will 
You 11 say, " He died through me I" [deign : 

But hold : our augury, too fraught with pain, 
Is read distastefully. 

52. 
I've done. Forgive and join with me a prayer : 

The winds may calm their ire, 
Or find repose, enough to help me there ; 

Then let the clouds spit fire. 

53. 

Our hull once moored in its own happy cove, 

In none so snug to stay, 
Let blustering Boreas keep where holds me love, 

More loth to wend away. 

54. 

No more complaining of the mountain wave, 

Bating the boisterous wind ; 
Me let them hold as your embraces have, 

And so two causes bind. 

55. 
When the storm wills, my native oars 1 11 ply : 

Feed still our beacon flame. 
Till then these lines on that sweet bosom lie : 

May I soon do the same ! 

53. Our hull once moored in its own happy cove. Myself having once 
attained the joy of being in your company. 

64 And so two causes bind. The winds and yonr love. 

55. Feed still my beacon flame. Still put oil in my directing lamp, 
and keep it burning. 



LETTER XIX. 
HEEO TO LEANDER. 

Argument. 

Hero, in answering Leander's letter, expresses the ardour of her love, 
and invokes its object to come to their mutual embrace. Sho ws that her 
affection, being that of woman, is more than what men can feel. She 
ventures to accuse him of inertness, and to upbraid him with not sustain- 
ing his reputation as a swimmer. Now she rails at the angry ocean, now 
expresses her dread lest Leander should have borne his affections else- 
where. She reflects, however, that such suspicion is mere unfounded 
conjecture. In fine, she dreads the storm herself, and enjoins her lover 
to trust to none but propitious seas. 



The health, Leander, you in words convey- 
To be my health, indeed, 

Hasten to come : too sore all slow delay 
That may our joy impede. 

2. 

Pardon a truth : impatient is my love. 

With equal flame we burn, 
But less my power; and virile actions prove 

Your minds of stronger turn. 

3. 

Stronger in soul as sinew men are found. 

My spirits fail the while. 
With men the hunt and tillage of the ground 

The lingering hours beguile. 



1. The first two stanzas answer to six lines of the Latin, 

2. Your minds. The minds of men. 



HERO TO LEANDER. 183 



The circus or the forum men employ, 

Or docile colt to break, 
Or fish or bird to tackle or decoy ; 

At eve their wine they take. 

5. 

Deprived of these, though Hero's love were less, 

Yet love her only aid : 
And Hero loves, O my voluptuousness, 

More, more than can be paid. 

6. 

Either with my good nurse we talk of thee, 

Seek causes of demur ; 
Or wander, chafing at the storm-rid sea, 

And your own plaints recur. 

7. 

If but the tempest seem its rage forego, 

" He will not come/' I say, 
And weep complaining. The sad tears that flow 

Nurse, soothing, wipes away^ 



Often we seek your print upon the sand, 
As sand could print retain. 

And ask if any from Abydos land, 
Or thither part again. 



4. The circus. School for athletic exercises. 

The forum. The great mart and public tribunal. 

5. And Hero loves, O my voluptuousness, 

More, more than can be paid. 
Hero loves, O thou who art all voluptuousness to me, more, much 
more, than it is possible for man to love woman. 
8. As. As if. 



184f HERO TO LEANDER. 

9. 

Why say how oft are kissed your vestment here, 

Left when about to swim ? 
So, as day wanes and sweeter night draws near, 

With the first starry glim, 

10. 

The beacon of your course is set alight 
Upon the well-known tower ; 

Then knitting, spinning, wile we on the night, 
Till nearly morning hour. 

11. 

You ask what all this time we talk about ? 

Leander all my say. 
" Thinkest, O nurse, Leander be come out ? 

" Wake they his voyage to stay ? 

12. 

" Deem'st thou as yet his members rubbed with 
" Or still their garments keep V [oil, 

She nods : unheeding or your love or toil, 
But dropping off to sleep. 

13. 

Then a while after, " Now he swims," I say ; 

" Now he throws back the wave." 
Again a few threads drawn : " Now he 's halfway, 

" Mid-seas his members lave." 



9. Why say ? Why need I say ? 

10. The beacon. The lamp at my window. 

11. Wake they his voyage to stay? Is it his family, still awake, who 
prevent him from departing ? 

12. Decm'st thou as yet his members rubbed with oil 1 Rubbing with 
oil, preparatory, among the ancients, to all athletic exercises, was 
peculiarly necessary for a long swim. 



HERO TO LEANDER. 185 

14 

And then a prayer with anxious look around : 

" His course the waters aid !" 
Then list attentive deeming every sound 

By your arriving made. 

15. 

At length, the greater part of evening sped, 

Sleep's drowsy beetle hums. 
u Haply/' I sigh, " he 's weary of my bed, 

w And but unwilling comes/' 

16. 

Dreaming, your natant form approaches near : 
It comes : has closely pressed. 

Now for your humid limbs a cloak I bear, 
Now lock you to my breast. 

17. 

And more besides indecorous to tell, 

Voluptuous to do. 
Ah me, the fleeting good and false as well, 

Waking bereft of you ! 

18. 
More firmly do we to our loves their right : 

Why lack those joys so dear ? 
Why pass so many a cold unwedded night ? 

Slow swimmer, why not here ? 

19. 

Though turbulent of late the sea I wot, 

Last night a milder air. 
Why let it pass, ills dreaming that are not ? 

'Tis gone : no bliss we share. 

15. Sleep's drowsy beetle hums. We are getting out of Ovid into 
Shakespeare : we cannot help it. These are no thefts on the great hard, 
but lowly homages done to his stupendous memory. 

18. More firmly do zve. Let us more firmly do. 



186 HEKO TO LEANDER. 



20. 



Suppose like chance be given to come, the first 

Was best beyond all cess : 
And say in no long time the sky grew curst. 

We Ve known you cross in less. 

M 

Wind-bound within my arms you 'd not complain, 

Nor dread the welkin's rage. 
For me, I 'd gaily hear the wind and rain, 

Nor seek their wrath to assuage. 

22. 

But what new terrors make the way more dread, 

More fearful rude the sea ? 
Remember once the pudder over-head 

But little less could be : 

23. 

'Twas when I cried, u Oh dare, but not so dare 

K As make sad tears to flow/' 
Whence this your fear ? and former courage 
where ? 

Where the great swimmer now ? 

24. 

Yet over-hardihood is big with fright : 

Be wisely safe your trip. 
E'en do as now, your love be as you write, 

Nor ever doomed to slip. 



20. The first teas best. As freeing me from so much of anxiety caused 
by waiting. 

We've known you cross in less. In less time than the said fair 
weather lasted. 

21. For me I 'd gaily hear the wind and rain. Being well housed and 
in your company. 

22. The judder over head. Same observation as on verse 15. " We 
are in the vein " for " picking and stealing," 



HERO TO LEANDER. 187 

25. 

Far less by winds we fear our hope delayed 
Than love more false than they. 

Our worser dread the dangerous voyage ill-paid 
By joys that lightly weigh. 

26. 

Oft fear we Sestos too unworthy prove 

To espouse Abydos' bed. 
Lighter all misery else than my true love 

Be disinherited. 

27. 
Were other arms to press to other heart, 

Old love a new to end, 
Rather my death, ere played the traitorous part, 

Its villany forfend ! 

28. 

All this concerns no sign of coming dole, 

No acts that fame besmear. 
But, dreading all, doubt is beyond control : 

Distance to love is fear. 

29. 

Happy who, present, the true fault must believe, 

And disbelieve the vain. 
Absent, the imagined move, the real deceive : 

In either equal pain. 



25. Far less by winds ice fear our hope delayed. I fear much less my 
hope being disappointed by winds than by wavering love, more false 
than the winds themselves. 

Our worser dread the dangerous voyage ill-paid. My greater fear is 
lest you should think the danger of the voyage too lightly compensated 
by joys that you set little value on. 

27. Old love a neio to end. Were a new love to end our old one. 

Ere played the traitrous part. Before you shall have played so 
'traitrous a part. 

29. The imagined faults ; the real faults. 



188 HERO TO LEANDER. 

SO. 

Would you were here ! would 'twere the wind ! — 
your sire ! 

No new amour stepped in ! 
Ah ! were it that, I should at once expire : 

The mere intent were sin. 

31. 

But 'tis not so : my fears are false and vain : 

The winds my joy deny. 
Hark how the beaten strand resounds again 

To the torrential sky, 

32. 

Involved in mist, is Nephele come down 

Her daughter's fate to weep ? 
Or does the step-dame Ino furious frown 

That Helle names the deep ? 

33. 

An ill-starr'd passage this to woman proves : 

Here Helle's, here my bane. 
But, Neptune tho*u, oh think of thy own loves 

Unscathed by winds insane. 



30. Would 'twere the wind, &c. I would that the wind were the real 
cause of your delay, or your father, and not a new mistress. 

The mere intent were sin. Merely to have conceived such an intention 
would be a sin. 

32. Involved in mist, is Nephele come down ? 

Her daughter's fate to weep, &c. 
Nephele after death became a cloud, and her name, in Greek, has ever 
since expressed that idea. She was the first wife of Athamas king of 
Thebes, and mother of Phryx and his sister Helle, who had the mis- 
fortune to give her name to the Hellespont straits by being drowned in 
that sea. Nephele was divorced by Athamas, who afterwards espoused 
Ino, daughter of Cadmus. The jealousy of the new bride was the cause 
of the departure of Phryx and Helle on the golden ram, consequently of 
that fate over which the cloud Nephele is now shedding tears. 

33. But, Neptune thou, oh think of thy own loves. Here she enume- 
rates a few of Neptune's gallantries, which show him to have been a 
worthy emulant of his brother Jupiter. 

Amymone was one of the fifty daughters of Danaus. (See Letter XIV.) 
Her murdered husband's name was Enceladus. She was excused from 
the punishment imposed on her sisters in hell, that of filling a leaky 



HERO TO LEANDER. 189 

Si. 
If not Amymone nor Tyro are 

Vain fables of love-sin, 
Alcyon nor Circe, nor Medusa's hair, 

Ere serpents egg'd therein, 

35. 
Heaven raised Celaano, fair Loadice, 

And others I have read : 
That these, oh Neptune, all were kind to thee, 

Verse hath accredited. 

36. 
Why then, so oft the power of Cupid known, 

With tempests bar our way ? 
Spare us : and on the deep let thunders groan : 

Poor Helle's fever stay. 

37. 
On fleets and magnate seas exert thy might : 

Our strait fits milder rule. 
Shall Ocean's god a swimming younker fright, 

Twould shame a lowly pool ? 

38. 
He 's no Ulysses' seed, though nobly born, 
To fear thy anger's scope. 

cask with water. The interest of Neptune was no doubt of use to her. 
She became, by the sea-god, mother of Nauphilus. 

Tyro bare the twins Pelias and Neleus. She was a nymph whom 
Neptune had sained by assuming the form of her lover Enipeus. 

Alcyone. This is not the Alcyone noted with Ceyx (in Letter XVIII., 
verse 21.) but one of the Pleiades daughters of Atlas and Pleione. 

Medusa was the only one of the three sister gorgons not immortal. 
She is said to have been beautiful, and particularly in her splendid hair. 
Neptune won her in the temple of Minerva. This profanation offended 
the goddess, who punished Medusa by converting her beautiful hair to 
snakes. 

35. Heaven-raised Celceno. Celreno is another daughter of Atlas and 
Pleione. She is termed heaven-raised because all the seven sisters after 
death became stars and form the constellation of the Pleiades. 

Laodice. It is not well-known to what Laodice, nor to what Circe in 
the last verse, the text refers. 

36. Poor Helle's fever stay. Allay the tumult of the waves of the 
Hellespont. 

38. He $ no Ulysses seed. Neptune might owe a grudge to Ulysses 
either for the revenge he took on Palamedes, a grandson of the god, who 



190 HERO TO LEANDER. 

Oh spare us both ; nor leave two wrecks forlorn, 
His body and my hope. 

39. 
My friendly lamp now sputters while I write : 

It is a kindly sign. 
Nurse feeds it, saying, " Three to-morrow night :" 

And then she sips the wine. 

40. 
Oh make us three, gliding the waters through, 

Be locked to my warm breast, 
To the camp, deserter I Love complains of you. 

Sole in mid couch to rest ! 

41. 

* Fear not, but come : sweet Venus aids the bold. 
The floods obey their child. 
It likes me well the wat'ry way to hold, 
Though this to men more mild : 

42. 
And hence, when erst by Phyrx and Helle tried, 

The maiden's title bare. 
Haply for the return you dread the tide, 

A double way to fare. 

43. 
Then let each other meet, half-channel o'er, 
Exchange half way a kiss ; 

had detected his feigned madness to avoid the Trojan war, or for having 
extinguished the only eye of the giant Polyphenias, who was a son of the 
ocean deity. 

39. My friendly lamp now sputters. These lesser omens even yet 
have their respect. Our own sea-coal fire sputters purses or coffins and 
cross bones. 

41. The floods obey their child. We have seen, Letter XY., note 53, 
that Venus sprang from the sea. 

This to men more kind. This sea, the Hellespont. 

42. And hence, when erst by JPhryx and Helle tried, 

The maiden's title bare. 
This sea took the name of Helle, and not of Phryxus, because she 
perished in it, and not he. 



HERO TO LEANDER.. 191 

This done, let each return to our own shore : 
Small better than no bliss. 

44. 

Would love to fear, imposing secret flame, 

Or fear to love gave right : 
Two feelings clash : love, fear divergent aim : 

One duty one delight. 

45. 

Jason, once entered Colchos roads to moor, 

Medea bore away ; 
The Trojan rake set foot on Sparta's shore 

And lured his easy prey. 

46. 
But you possess, depart, come, leave again, 

O'er seas that keels ill dare, 
And still, O youthful victor of the main, 

Despise them, but with fear. 

47. 

Engulfed are ships, chief works of human skill : 

May hands be surer trust ? 
No seaman dares confide to them until, 

His vessel wrecked, he must. 

48. 

Ah me unhappy, loth to instil my theme, 

Be stronger than I teach. 
Oh come, oft tossed but safe across the stream, 

Kissed dripping on the beach. 

41. Would love to fear. I would that our love gave way to our fear, 
which imposes secrcsy, or that our fear gave way to our love and with- 
drew itself from tormenting us. 

45. Medea bore away. See her Letter to Jason, No. 12. 

The Trojan rake. Paris. 

Ltired his easy prey. Helen. We have just seen their letters to each 
other. 



192 HERO TO LEANDER. 

49. 

And yet, as the blue waters meet my sight, 

A tremor chills my breast. 
No less the terror in a dream last night : 

Prayers expiate are addressed. 

50. 
'Twas near the break of dawn, my lantern waned, 

True dreams then haunt our bed : 
My distaff fell : I, Morpheus-constrained, 

Laid down my weary head. 

51. 

In sleep appeared, hard by a storm-rid strand, 

A dolphin scudding past : 
And sudden, hurled upon the thirsty sand, 

The creature breathed its last. 

52. 

This strikes with terror. Smile not, but beware, 

Confide to milder sea. 
If not thyself, yet thy loved Hero spare, 

Who but exists in thee, 

53. 

Still nourish hope the winds may bate their war ; 

Then safely come thy way. 
While yet the hurricanes imperious bar, 

A letter soothes delay. 



49. Prayers expiate are addressed. I have repeated the formula of 
prayer and made the proper offerings, to avert the evils that my dream 
may portend. 

50. Morpheus-constrained. Overcome by sleep. 



LETTER XX. 
ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 

Argument. 

Acontius, a youth of honourable but plebeian extraction in the island 
of Cea, was in Delos at the celebration of the feasts of Diana, where 
great numbers of youth of both sexes had assembled. He became vio- 
lently smitten with the beauty of Cydippe, a maiden of noble family ; 
and, not daring to solicit her hand on account of the disparity of rank, 
he had recourse to a novel stratagem. He inscribed on the rind of a 
beautiful apple the following couplet : 

" I swear, on penalty of Dian's wrath, 
To be your wife, and herein plight my troth." 
This done, he repaired to the temple, and in the midst of the cere- 
monies, rolled the fruit to the feet of Cydippe. She, in the innocence of 
un suspicion, read the verse, and was from that moment betrothed to 
Acontius : for, in the temple of Delian Diana, whatever was promised 
became ratified by the deity, and made law. Some time after this, the 
maiden's father, ignorant of what had passed, engaged her in marriage 
to another. Simultaneously, Cydippe fell ill of a violent fever, and 
Acontius, in this letter, seeks to persuade her that the malady is an 
infliction of Diana for her not having fulfilled what she had promised in 
presence of the divinity. 



Be not afraid^ for nothing more you 11 swear ; 

Once done is ample deed. 
Enough that now a sacred tie you wear : 

Then prithee on proceed. 

2. 

These sufferings are my grief: gods soothe your 
And every ailment heal. [pain] 

Nay, why that blush ? For, as in Dian's fane, 
Your crimsoned cheek I feel. 

1. The first eight lines answer to six of the Latin. 
A sacred tie. The promise contained in the verse which you have 
pronounced in Diana's temple. 

I 



194 ACONTTUS TO CYDIPPE. 



No crime my view, but faith and troth to plight, 

In honourable guise. 
Granted, what fruit conveyed to your chaste 

Is read by a surprise, [sight 

4. 

Its purport holds. The pact may rather you 

Than Delia keep in mind. 
But there my fear, a fear more anxious too, 

As love-ties closer bind. 

Great from the first, my love by time still grew, 

The more hope promised fair. 
You gave the hope ; my love believed it true : 

Dian may witness bear. 

6. 

Present she stood your solemn pledge to note, 

And seemed to nod assent. 
Promise by fraud inveigled you may quote : 

The motive still Love lent. 

7. 
What asked my fraud ? With Canace to wed. 

In judgment let us pause. 
To ruse not nature but your beauty led : 

Yourself, sweet girl, the cause. 

4. The pact may rather you 
Than Delia keep in mind. 

I wish much rather that you should keep your promise than that Diana 
should remember it, and punish the breach of it. 

But there my fear. Lest you neglect the engagement. 

As love-ties closer bind. The more my love attaches me to you. 

5. The more hope promised fair. Still more in proportion as hope 
offered fairer prospect of success. 

Dian may witness bear. Since the basis of my hope was laid in her 
temple. 

6. Promise byfrand inveigled you may quote. You may argue against 
me that your promise was inveigled by fraud. 



ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPJE. 195 

8. 
Ingenious love with words then tied you down, 

This at my door may lie. 
Affiances he made in form his own : 

A love-taught lawyer I. 

9. 

Let it be deemed to fraud and over-reach, 

If it be fraud to love. 
This suppliant rescript of imploring speech 

Another fraud may prove. 

10. 
If there be wrong in love, mine injures still, 

Persistently to pray. 
Some by the sword possess in spite of will : 

Shall my poor style effray ? 

11. 

Gods aiding many a bond your faith shall tie, 

Mine ever to remain. 
A thousand wiles untried : though up-hill, I 

And Love our point will gain. 

12. 

Doubt they success ? in some love-trap you fall. 

Heaven orders, but you are caught. 
Some toils may miss, but not escaped are all 

That Love for you hath wrought. 

13. 

If tactics fail, by arms, then, be borne off 

To our adoring heart. 
We are none of those brave Paris' deed who scoff, 

He dared play out his part. 

8. Inform his otcn. In a formula invented by Love himself : namely, 
the verse of the Argument. 

9. This suppliant rescript. This supplicating letter which you read. 

10. Some by the sword possess in spite of will. Possess their mistress, 
whom they carry off in spite of her will. 

12. Toils. Love-traps. 

13. Brave Paris' deed. The rape of Helen, on which we have seen 
many Letters, and which Acontius admires. Similis simili gantlet. 

I 2 



196 ACONTIUS TO CYDIPFE. 

14 

Ere long — but muni : such rapine's pay is death. 

So be it ; sans thee 9 t were worse. 
Less beauty were to claim with vocal breath : 

Your lovely traits need force. 

15. 

'Tis your own work ; your planet-beaming eye 

Hath lighted up this flame. 
Your golden hair and neck of ivory, 

Would to my clasp it came ! 

16. 

Your grace, your mien, modestly unconstrained ; 

Not prettier Thetis' feet ; 
And hidden beauties, not to be profaned, 

Of nature's work complete. 

17. 

Is 't strange, seduced by features so divine, 
A man your pledge would bear ? 

Be you but captured ! forced to yield, in fine ! 
E'en let them say my snare, 

18. 

Envy we 11 bear : but a reward is gained. 

"Why not the deed be paid ? 
Briseis and Hesione constrained, 

Each with her captor staid. 



14. Ere long. I will carry you off as Paris did Helen. 
Sans thee 'tivere ivorse. To live without thee would be worse than 
death. 

Vocal breath. By word of mouth. 

17. E'en let them say my snare. Let them say that your illness was 
caused by my stratagem of throwing the apple. 

18. Why not the deed be paid ? I have performed the task of winning : 
I merit the reward of wearing. 

Briseis. We have seen, Letter III., that she became the prize of 
Achilles at an early period of the last Trojan war, and was entirely 
devoted to him. 

Hesione. Was daughter of Laomedon king of Troy. She was doomed, 
as an expiatory sacrifice to Apollo and Neptune, to be exposed to a sea 



ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 197 

19. 

Scold, an you must, your anger shall have way, 

Yet you be holden still. 
"We who the anger caused, shall, caused, allay : 

Lend but a docile will. 

20. 

Be we allowed to shed the contrite tear ; 

To add imploring speech ; 
Or, like the slaves, when chastisement they fear, 

Clasping your knees, beseech. 

21. 

You slur your right. Call up ; nor absent doom ! 

As mistress say, " Appear ! 9 * 
Imperious, you may violence assume ; 

Your nails our visage tear. 

22. 

All we 'd endure, nor see without regret 

You hurt that little hand. 
Yet why of chain or gyve impose the let ? 

My love is firmer band. 

23. 

Assuaged your anger, with yourself you muse : 

" In love how patient he ! " 
And inward whisper, ceasing to accuse, 

" Who serves so well, serve me." 



monster, but was delivered by Hercules, who slew the creature. Her 
father, however, refused to the conqucrer the stipulated reward of a 
hundred horses ; hence Hercules besieged Troy, took it, and put all the 
men of the family to the sword except Priam, whom he made king. He 
carried off Hesione, and gave her to his companion in arms, Telamon. 
This was the first Trojan war. 

21. You slur your right. He assimilates himself to a slave. 

Call up. Summon me before you..— Nor absent doom. And do not 
condemn me unheard. 



198 ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 

24. 

Now false arraigned, unheard : my thriving cause 

Fails, having none to prone. 
But mark this well, howe'er our writing flaws, 

You hold on me alone. 

25. 

Dian deserved not to be wronged with me: 

To her let promise bind. 
Dian was present there that blush to see, 

And bear your words in mind. 

26. 

When omens fail, 'tis then she 's wrath indeed, 

Deceived her deity. 
Witness the boar of Calydon, and heed : 

Unsure her fealty. 

27. 

Witness Acteon turned stag, death in the fangs 

Of his own dogs who found. 
The weeping mother, too, a rock who hangs, 

O'er the Mygdonian ground. 



24. False arraigned. Falsely, as lie pretends. 

Unheard : my thriving cause. Since I am not admitted into your 
family to defend myself, and make openly and boldly my proposals, 
which are just and reasonable. 

Having none to prone. Having no advocate to defend it, 

Hoive'er our writing flaws. However my writing may be deemed an 
offence. 

You hold on me alone. In law you can have no claim on any one but 
me. 

26. Witness the boar of Calydon and heed. (Eneus king of Calydon, 
in a general sacrifice of thanks for an abundant harvest, forgot his 
offerings to Diana. The goddess punished the neglect by sending an 
enormous boar to ravage all the lands. See note on (Enides or Meleager 
(Letter III., verse 33). 

Unsure her fealty. It would be dangerous trusting to her pity. 

27. Acteon turned stag. Acteon, who was a famous hunter, son of 
Aristeus and Antonoe, daughter of Cadmus, unwittingly came in view 
of Diana and her nymphs bathing. The goddess splashed him with 
water, and he became a stag. The unlucky sportsman was hunted to 
death by his own hounds. 

The weeping mother, too, a rock ivho hangs 
O'er the Mygdonian ground. 
This refers to Niobe, daughter of the unhappy Tantalus (noted 
Letter XVI., verse 52). Proud of her numerous progeny of seven sons 



ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 199 

23. 
Alas, Cydippe, truth is hard to tell, 

Lest for myself it plead. 
Let us be plain : 'tis this makes you unwell, 

Now at the age to wed. 

29. 
Dian afflicts for good ; and, unforsworn, 

Safe guards your faith and you. 
Perceiving you to perjury are borne, 

She bars the sin to do. 

30. 
Beware the touchy virgin take up arms, 

Still mild if you incline. 
Ah, prithee, not with ills affect those charms ; 

Preserve that face as mine. 

31. 
Preserve those traits, made to incend my heart, 

That fair celestial glow. 
Should a competitor usurp my part, 

Be pale as I am now. 

32. 

Me tortures haunt, you ill or that you wed : 

The better hard to choose. 
Tortured in causing pain unmerited 

With my unhappy ruse. 

and seven daughters, she drew comparisons with herself unfavourable 
to the goddess Latona, who had only her Apollo and Diana. Hence 
revenge on the part of the two celestial powers. Apollo and Diana 
each took their bow and quiver : one shot the seven sons, the other the 
seven daughters. The mother w r as petrified in the sudden shock of 
grief, and became a precipitous rock " on the Mygdonian ground," that 
is, near Mount Sipylus. 

29. JJnf or sworn, safe guards your faith and you. If you do not falsify 
your oath good faith remains intact, and your health is restored, since 
Diana's infliction will be removed. 

30. The touchy virgin. Diana, extremely sensitive to neglect of her 
honours, as we have seen, note 20. 

If you incline. If you bow to her will. 

31. Should a competitor. If a. competitor should. 



200 ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 

33. 

Would on my head your perjury might fall ! 

You safe, on me the woe ! 

To learn your progress often near the hall 

I wander to and fro. 

34. 
Or watch a slave to ask if all go well, 

How food and sleep betide. 
Ah me ! were it given to take a nurse's spell 

Placed at your pillow side ! 

35. 
Haply, — alas, and torment 'twere to see, — 

Posted against your bed, 
Another, hateful both to gods and me, 

Supports that lovely head ; 

36. 
Or takes the hand, and, at the index vein, 

Presses the wrist for cause ; 
Or palps the heart, a kiss perhaps may gain : 

Far over-due he draws. 

37. 

The ravisher ! at plundering not amiss ! 

To break another's hedge ! 
That harvest 's mine — an arrant theft that kiss ! 

Hands off ! She 's mine by pledge ! 

38. 
Villain, hold off that rude, unlawful touch : 

Repeat it, and 'tis sin ! 
Seek some free maid. Is there a dearth of such ? 

This law forbids to win. 

33. You safe, on one the tvoe. You being restored to health, and I 
falling into your state of sickness. 

36. Presses the wrist for cause. Peels the pulse to find the cause of 
the ailment. 

Far over-due he draws. He takes more payment than is due for his 
services. 

38. Villain, hold off that rude, unlawful touch. (" Two Gentlemen 
of Verona.") This and the next four stanzas are an apostrophe to 
Cydippe's admitted lover. 



ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 201 

39. 

You doubt ? Herself the formula shall read, 

And force you to believe. 
Hence, interloper, from our right secede, 

The precontracted leave. 

40. 

Your auspices, a word of human pact, 

Are nothing to our bands. 
We hold from her, you by the father's act : 

Second to her he stands. 

41. 

He promised her ; she plighted her own troth, 

Whereto the gods respond. 
He fears the lie ; she dreads the broken oath : 

Which then the greater bond ? 

42, 

In fine, survey the risk on either part : 

She ill, her father yare. 
We, too, unfairly matched in force or heart, 

Nor like in hope nor fear. 

43. 

You safe : I sit in dread of deadly blight : 

I love what you but may. 
Had you the sentiment of law or right, 

You 'd honestly give way. ■ 



39. The formula. The writing on the apple. 

40. Your auspices. Your grounds for cherishing hope are no more 
than a word of human promise. 

42. We, too, unfairly matched in force or heart, 

Nor like in hope nor fear. 
On our part, yours and mine, our fears and our hopes being unequal, 
we are unfairly matched. 

43. You safe. To you no harm can happen your affections not being 
engaged, whereas I am in danger of dying if my hope should fail. X 
really do love her whom you only may love, 

I 5 



202 ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 

44. 

Now see this savage urging unjust cause, 

Cydippe, where we tend : 
He makes your ailment, breaking Dian's laws ; 

Send him his way to wend. 

45. 

From him you hold the danger of your life : 

Impested may he lie ! 
Him once repelled, there ends the goddess' strife ; 

Safe you, and saved am I. 

46. 

Fear not, fair maid, your health will soon return. 

In the conscious temple pray. 
Not oxen please the gods, nor scents that burn, 

But those their vows who pay. 

47. 

Some seek a cure from fire, or steel, or both : 

By herbs are some set free. 
You need none such. Avoid the broken oath: 

Save faith save you — and me. 

48. 

The first offence is void, absent the will : 

The bond escaped your mind. 
Now you're forewarned by me, and by the ill 

Which comes your fault behind. 



44. Now see. Having terminated his apostrophe to his rival he 
resumes his pleading to Cydippe. 

Breaking JDian's taxes. His persistency being contrary to the law of 
Diana's temple. 

46. The conscious temple. The temple of Diana, conscious because 
there your infraction of the law is known. 

47. Some seek a cure from jive or steel, or both : 

By herbs are some set free. 
Some ills are cured by burning, some by cutting, some by medicine. 



ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPJE. 203 

49. 

This danger past, in child-bearing you 'U pray 

On you those radiant hands. 
Musing the goddess then will ask and say, 

"This birth is from what bans?" 

50. 
Proffered your vow, she knows it false : you 

Cheat of the gods she '11 feel. [swear. 

Deem not this said for me ; higher my care ; 

My soul yearns for your weal. 

51. 

Why simply an ill health your parents moan ? 

Why on the truth so hush ? 
Your silence why ? To mother all be known. 

The action needs no blush. 

52. 

Tell them the process of the love-set seed, 

In the fame of starry rays. 
How, once beheld^ if the thing had your heed, 

I stood in stolid gaze. 

53. 

How, fixed like one whose wits are not his own, 

Backward my mantle slid. 
How, whence you knew not, rolled an apple down 

In which grave words lay hid : 



49. On you those radiant hands. The radiant hands of Diana to bless 
you, that goddess, as well as Juno, being patroness of childbirth. 

51. Why simply an ill health your parents mourn 1 

Why on the truth so hush ? 
Why are your parents left so ignorant of the real cause of your 
malady that they mourn simply your ill health instead of weeping your 
ofi'ence to the goddess ? 

52. Tell them the process of the love-set seed 

In the fame of starry rays. 

Tell them the history of the apple thrown as a seed of love in the 
temple of Diana. 

Once beheld. As soon as you were beheld by me. 

53. How, fixed. Me standing fixed. 



204 ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 

54. 

How, soon as read, by holy Dian there 
Your faith became fast bound : 

And, that he feel the sense those verses bear, 
Read him the distich found. 

55. 

" Espouse/' he '11 cry ; " whatever the gods bestow, 

" Let him be sworn my son/' 
Whom Dian wills be sure your sire will too, 

And mother, if she is one. 

56. 

Let him inquire of who I am ; he '11 own 

Dian is kind to thee. 
Ceos, my land, erst to the Muses know n, 

Girt by the iEgean sea. 

57. 

Nor will your line of noble ancestry 

With me be misallied. 
We 've wealth, a name intact on probity, 

And more — Love claims the bride. 

58. 

Though free, with better you could not unite. 

Free or unfree 'tis true. 
These in a dream me Phoebus bade indite : 

These waking Love bids too. 



54. Head him the distich found. The verse inscribed on the apple as 
given in the Argument. 

55. If she is one. If she is a mother worthy to be so called. 

56. Ceos, my land. Ceos, or Cea, or Coos, or Cos, is an island of the 
JEgean Sea, near Eubcea, where, as he affirms, the Muses were very 
anciently honoured. 



ACONTIUS TO CYDIPPE. 205 

59. 

And if the latter's dart has wounded one, 

Of Phoebe's hand beware. 
Our common fate in pity do not shun ; 

Let both one safety share. 

60. 

Which if it hap, when joyous signals sound, 

And Delos' altars flame, 
A golden apple, thus inscribed around, 

Two verses shall proclaim : 

61. 

Acontias by this image ivill imply 

His writing ratified. 
And now, lest over-much your strength we try, 

Farewell, my future bride ! 

59. Has wounded one. Has wounded ine. 
Phoebe. Diana. 

Let both one safety share. By submitting to Diana, and being 
united. 

60. When joyous signals sound. The music announcing our marriage. 

61. His writing ratified. The promise contained in the verse in- 
scribed on the apple (see Argument) being ratified. 



LETTER XXI. 
CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 

Argument. 

Cydippe, having read the letter of Acontius, and understanding that 
her malady proceeds from the anger of Diana, is inclined, notwith- 
standing her parents' choice, to cede to the wishes of the lover rather 
than endure the malady which consumes her. In her answer, however, 
she combats the validity of the tie he has imposed on her, since it 
consists of mere words wanting the consent of her will. Yet, conclusive 
as her arguments are, she avows her fear of Diana; lays before her 
reader the picture of the debile state to which she is reduced, but lets 
slip, in so doing, a confession that she prefers him to his rival. She 
repels the idea, which he has thrown out, of her having favoured the 
latter ; and, in fine, consents to marry Acontius. 



I. 

Fearing, I read your letter in the mind 

To swear no oath anew. 
More had been tried, but, as you are pleased to 

Once done is not to do. [find, 

2. 
Read it had not been, save that to refuse 

Rekindled Dian's ire. 
Gifts though we give and frankincense infuse, 

She favours your desire. 

3. 
Urging the belief you claim, the more her rage : 

Thesides less her care 
A virgin should be kind to virgin age : 

My maiden days she '11 mar. 



1. More had been tried. More would have been tried. 

2. Had not been. Would not have been. Had leaked. Would have 
waked. Rekindled. Would have rekindled. 

3. Urging tlie belief you claim, the more her rage. To force me to 
believe you as you require she shows more anger. 

Thesides less her care. Was taken less care for by her. From Pha?dra's 
Letter, No. IV., we know Thesides or Hippolytus to be a thorough 



CYDIPPE TO AOONTIUS. 207 

4. 
This languor holds by inapparent cause, 

And medicine is in vain. 
Judge how debile, at every line a pause ; 

Raising my head with pain. 

5. 
Hereto add fear that any but my maid 

Know the converse we keep. 
She sits at door, her answer .duly paid 

To comers : " She's asleep." 

6. 
At length this reason growing over stale 

With credency to quote, 
Perceiving those on whom 't would scarce avail, 

She coughs to give me note. 

7. 
A word half- writ, within my dress I roll 

The visible intrigue, 
And, later, wearily resume the scroll : 

Judge then of my fatigue. 

8. 
It were my death, you worthy to hear more, 

Yet more than due is said. 
'Tis then your scheming leads me to death's door : 

Bad scheming dearly paid ! 

sportsman ; as such, and as a devoted bachelor, he could not but be 
agreeable to Diana. Phaedra, as we have seen, her love being rejected, 
accused him to his father Theseus of soliciting her to sin. Theseus, 
after having upbraided the youth and rejected his denial of the crime, 
invoked their forefather, Neptune, to avenge the wrong, which Neptune 
did, for as he drove along the coast, his car drawn by a pair of the 
thorough-breds of those days, a sea monster frighted the nags: they 
ran away with the vehicle, and were, together with it and the driver, 
all dashed to pieces. Diana however afterwards, by the help of 
Esculapius, restored her favourite to life, and he was known uuder 
the name of Yirbius ; that is, bis vir, twice a man. 
5. The converse we keep. The correspondence we keep up. 

7. The visible intrigue. The letter, the corpus delicti. 

8. Yet more than due is said. I have said more than you deserve to 
hear ; you who are the cause of my malady. 



208 CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 

9. 

The fortune this our vaunted beauties gain ! 

To wake desire and die ! 
Would that our comeliness were counted plain, 

In your unflattered eye. 

10. 

Now, lauded, here we moan, your strife the cause, 

Hurt by the good we owe. 
While you nor cede nor he his claim withdraws, 

Each thwarts the other's vow. 

11. 

With me as with a ship by Boreas driven, 
When back the flood constrains : 

The time arrived by loving parents given, 
High fever still remains. 

12. 

And on the wretched wedding day we find 

Perseph/ne at the gate : 
Hence shame and fear though no ill act in mind 

To need celestial hate. 

13. 

One argues all to chance, the other's view 

Sees gods our choice refuse. 
Nor think that fame is silent about you, 

Philters who 're said to use. 



10. Hart by the good we owe. Injured by the beauty which I possess. 
Nor he his claim withdraws. He the lover accredited by my father 

and mother. 

Each thwarts the other's voiv. Each labours to disappoint the 
other's wish. 

11. The time arrived by loving .parents given. The time appointed 
for the marriage of my kind parents. 

12. Persephone. Another name for Proserpine, queen of the infernal 
regions, and who presides over the dying. Hence the line implies 
" death menacing the house." 

Hence shame and fear are felt in my mind. 



CYDTPPE TO ACONTIUS. 209 

14. 
Hidden the cause : my ills appear. Irate, 

You mutual war. I moan. 
Better unlove and treat me with your hate, 

The one so fatal known. 

15. 

If your love injure, better love your foe : 

Wish me a world of ill. 
Either no care of your best hope you know, 

And leave to die at will, 

16. 

Or, if for me in vain the heavens you move, 
Why boast ? no thanks are due. 

Dian you will not soften ? slight I prove : 
You cannot ? she slights you. 

17. 

Would we had ne'er, or happy then not known 

Where Delos island lay ! 
Then was our ship on evil waters thrown 

At parting from our bay. 

18. 
What joy to go ! what haste to fling behind 

Our home, when once aboard ! 
Twice we backed sail, returned with adverse wind: 

Adverse ! the wind was tow'rd. 



14. You. You two lovers. 

15. Either no care of your best hope you know, 

And leave to die at will. 
Either you take no care for ine, whom you pretend to he your dearest 
hope, and leave me to die as I may. 

1G. Dian you will not soften. Let us suppose, on the one hand, that 
you will not appease Diana, you put a slight on me. Suppose, on the 
other hand, you cannot prevail on Diana, then she slights you. In 
either case you have no claim on me. 

17. Woidd we had, ne'er, or happy then not known. Would that I 
had never known where Delos was situated, or that I had been so happy 
as not to know it then. 

On evil waters. On seas of bad omen. 

18. The wind was tow'rd. Favourable to my interest if not to my 
wishes. 



210 CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 

19. 
Wind fair was foul, and fouler wind most fair, 

Hindering ill-omen'd course. 
Would it had still remained in vein contrair ! 

Fool ! I had not found worse. 

20. 

Moved by great Delos' fame and all elate, 
Scarce seemed we go ahead. 

Impatient, oft the dull oars irritate, 
The little canvass spread. 

21. 

Behind lay Tenos, Andros, and Mycone : 

In view Delos sublime : 
" Island, thou fliest," I said in tetchy tone ; 

" Dost float as in old time?" 

22. 

We land at length, about the close of day : 
Sol's team then going to rest. 

Soon as recalled to wend its morning way, 
By mother's care we 're dressed. 

23. 

Herself set ornaments of gems and gold ; 

Arranged my robe. In fine, 
We go, and to the gods the place who hold, 

Pay thanks, incense, and vane. 



19. / had not. I should not have. 

20. Moved by great Delos' fame. Moved by the fame of the renowned 
island of Delos, birth-place of Apollo and Diana, and seat of their 
mysteries. 

21. Behind lay Tenos, Andros, and Mycone. Three Cyclade islands in 
the line and near the end of her voyage ; Mycone being close to Delos. 

Dost float as in old time ? The island of Delos is said to have risen 
from the sea in days of yore at a stroke of Neptune's trident, and to 
have been some time in choosing its resting-place. 

22. Sol's team then going to rest. The sun just then going down. 
Soon as recalled. As soon as the sun's horses are harnessed in the 

morning. 



CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 211 

24. 

Mother the altar went with blood to stain 

And entrail meats prepare. 
Old nurse, meanwhile, took me about the fane. 

Admiring everywhere. 

25. 

We visited the gates, and wondering gazed 

At gifts of kings, what not ? 
The altar of innumerous antlers raised ; 

Latona's yeaning spot. 

26. 

And much else, more than to relate we care, 
Rich food for wondering eyes. 

Haply, contemplating you saw me there, 
And deemed an easy prize. 

27. 
P th' temple now they sacred songs rehearse : 

Could place appear more sane ? 
Before me rolls an apple with this verse ■ 

Ha ! I 'd near sworn again. 

28. 

Nurse took it up, and, eyeing, " Read/' she said, 

Great wit, and I perused. 
The name of marriage uttered, a deep red 

My conscious cheek suffused. 



25. The altar of innumerous antlers raised. An immense altar raised 
by Apollo with the horns of animals killed by his sister was cited 
among the seven wounders of the world. 

Latona's yeaning spot. Latona, we have seen, is the mother of 
Apollo and Diana. The spot of ground where they were born was 
within the precincts of the temple. 

26. Contemplating you saiv me there. Saw me contemplating there. 

27. This verse. The verse given in the Argument of the last Letter. 

28. Great wit, Acontius, great wit as you are. 



212 CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 

29. 

My down-cast eyes are fixed upon my breast : 

Eyes serving your design. 
Captor, why srailest ? Great glory here you wrest ! 

A virgin tricked is fine ! 

30. 

Virgin, no axe in hand, no buckler worn, 

Like a Penthesile ; 
Nor belt of chiselled gold that might be torn, 

As from Antiope. 

81. 

Fine vaunt, that a successful trick you wrought 

On a too simple maid ! 
One fruit both me and Atalanta caught, 

Hippomenes you 're made. 

32. 

Better, that infant helping whose flambeau 

You mention so at ease, 
Not with poor fraud a nobler course forego : 

We were to ask, not seize. 

33. 

Why not at first bring forward every claim 

An honest case might plead ? 
By force why rather than persuasion aim, 

To such if one might cede ? 

30. JPentliesilea. A queen of the Amazons, daughter of Mars. She was 
killed by Achilles in the early part of the Trojan war. The hero is said 
to have wept over the beautiful corpse. 

Antiope. Another queen of the Amazons, daughter of Mars, and called 
also Hippolyte. She was overcome by Hercules, who took away her 
splendid girdle, and afterwards gave her to Theseus. Ey him, as we 
have seen, Letter IV., verse 30, she had Hippolytus to whom the fourth 
Letter is addressed by Phaedra. 

31. One fruit both me and Atalanta caught, 

Hippomenes you 're made. 
We have seen, Letter XVI., verse 65, how Hippomenes in the race beat 
Atalanta by means of three apples. 

32. That infant. Cupid, 



CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 213 

34. 

What can avail your formula of oath 

And present deity ? 
'Tis mind that swears : we gave no plighted troth 

In mental verity. 

35. 
Thought and the soul's resolve alone can swear ; 

Without, no tie can bind. 
If from the will my faith were plighted there, 

The bride would be resigned. 

36. 
But if we give mere word, the mind apart, 

You Ve word wanting in re. 
We have not sworn but read a bridal part : 

Read you as you would be. 

37. 
To fools such trash. Next comes a letter writ. 

With such, have Gyges' store : 
Make kings to swear you on their throne to sit, 

And honours what not more. 

38. 
With such, Diana's self is not more dread : 

Your pen one may redoubt. 
Yet though 'tis shown, in right you 're nonsuited, 

My cause being pleaded out. 

34. Formula ofoatli. Given in the Argument to Letter XX. 

37. With such have Gyges' store. You have only to write a promise 
and use some trick that Gyges may read it, he will be hound to make 
you master of whatever treasures you please to insert. Gyges was an 
exceedingly rich king of Lydia. He came to the throne by the vanity 
of his predecessor Candaules, who must needs show him the unveiled 
beauties of his wife. This so incensed the queen that she resolved on 
revenge, and getting Gyges in her power, she threatened him with 
instant death unless he undertook to murder the king. Gyges preferred 
the latter, slew the monarch, and reigned in his stead. He left behind 
him a vast name for riches, but that reputation was surpassed some 
hundred and fifty years afterwards by his successor Croesus, whose name 
became proverbial* of wealth. 

38. My cause being pleaded out. She has established her proof that 
he has no right to her, but now comes her dread of the goddess, and a 
lurking disposition to give way to it. 



214 CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 

39. 

Latona's cruel daughter is a fear : 

From her for sure my ail, 
Or whence, as oft they marriage rites prepare, 

So oft my organs fail ? 

40. 

Thrice Hymen from the altar fled, and thrice 

Turned from our house away, 
When weary lamps relumed the edifice, 

And flambeaux formed array. 

41. 

Odours as oft impregned our braided hair, 

Our dress with rose replete: 
At door, with fear of death, perceiving there 

All to his cult unmeet, 

42. 

Hymen has frowned, thrown off his floral crown ; 

Shook from his hair the scent ; 
And, shaming to appear on florid gown, 

To his cheek the crimson went. 

43. 

The bride alas ! whom debile fevers keep, 

Scarce bearing her attire, 
Sees sorrowing parents at her pillow weep : 

The wedding torch her pyre. 

39. Latona's daughter. Diana. 

40. Thrice Hymen from the altar fled. Three times the nuptial day 
was fixed and as often put off by illness. 

When iveary lamps. When the lamps weary of being so often lighted 
on the same occasion and in vain. 

41. At door, with fear of death, 'perceiving there. Hymen perceiving 
at the door the fear of death and everything uncongenial to a marriage 
ceremony, has frowned, &c. 

42. To his cheek the crimson went. The red colour just cast from his 
dress with the roses mounted to his cheeks in blushes. 

43. The tvedding torch her pyre. Flambeaux being used both for 
weddings and funerals, those prepared for her marriage, considering the 
state of her health, may light her to her grave. 



CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS, 215 

44. 
Spare ine, goddess of the unerring dart ! 

Get me thy brother's aid ; 
Still it were shame the cure of ills his part, 

And thine the ill to have made. 

45. 
In crystal waters, shaded from all sight, 

Have I overlooked thy bath ? 
Thyself, O goddess, do we ever slight ? 

Nor thine my mother hath, 

46. 
Mine no offence, but read a subtle lie, 

Grown learned in a dull verse. 
Acontius, if you love, an offering try : 

Who did should harm reverse. 

47. 
Why she who venges plight unpaid to you 

Make that it cannot be ? 
With life there 's hope : will she at once undo 

My life, your hope in me ? 

48. 
Yet never believe that he by us affied 

On me e'er lay his touch : 
He sat, allowed, indeed, at my bed-side, 

In awe of maiden couch. 

44. Goddess of the unerring dart. Diana. 

Get me thy brother's aid. Apollo's ; he being the god of all arts, pre- 
sides over that of medicine, on which we have seen him giving useful 
lessons toiEnone (Letter V., verses 37, 38.) 

45. Have I o'erlooked their bath. Like Acteon (see Letter XX», 
verse 27). 

Nor thine my mother hath. ~Nor has my mother slighted thine. 

46. An offering try. Make an offering in the temple for the recovery 
of my health, to try whether it will have a good effect. 

Who did shotild harm reverse. He who did the harm should strive 
to repair it. 

47. Why she ivho venges. Why should Diana who avenges plight 
unpaid. 

Make that it cannot be. Cause that the engagement plighted to you 
cannot be performed. 
4S. Yet never believe that he. The husband chosen by my parents. 



216 CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 

49. 
Lately a something he observes amiss : 

Tears fall from hidden cause. 
Karely he dares caress or take a kiss, 

And calls me his with pause. 

50. 
No wonder he perceive what obvious lies. 

He conies ; I turn aside. 
Nor speak ; but, as if sleeping, close my eyes, 

And ill his touch abide. 

51. 

Deeply he sighs, deeming some unknown spite, 

Though nothing ask redress. 
Alas ! you triumph : this is your delight, 

And I, alas ! confess. 

52. 
Ah me ! my tongue in rein, you 'd more deserve 

Wrath for your artful snare. 
Nearer our ailing person you would serve, 

Farther 'twere need beware. 

53. 
Often I've pondered whence you have your name, 

Acontius meaning (t dart." 
True, by your missile we have got a maim 

Of long enduring smart. 

54. 
But why come here my fever's course to trace ? 

Your double trophy hung. 
Wasted my flesh, flushed without blood my face, 

E'en like the fruit you flung. 

52. Nearer our ailing person you looiild serve. Alluding to that wish 
expressed in his Letter, verse 34. 

Farther 'twere need beware. Even were you farther off I had need 
beware. 

53. Acontius meaning" dart." kzovtiov, a dart. 
Tour missile. The apple which you threw. 

54. Your double trophy hung. Since you have gained a double victory : 
first, by shaking my principles with your letter ; and last, by gaining my 
heart. 

E'en like the fruit you flung. The apple, whose rosy colour indicated 
no blood. 



CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS. 217 

55. 

My cheek has now of red no mingled shade, 
As new- wrought marble wont. 

Pale as a silver vase at banquet laid, 
Filled from a gelid fount. 

56. 

Seeing me thus, you 'd swear not seen till now, 
Nor deem me worth your art. 

You 'd disengage me then from all my vow, 
Regretting Dian's part. 

57. 

Haply you '& cause me contrary to plight, 

And other words repeat. 
Would to your asking you could have the sight, 

And know your bride's defeat. 

58. 

For then, Acontius, harder though than steel, 
In my own words you 'd pray. 

At Delphos now, in search of means to heal, 
They 're gone to make assay. 

59. 

The god, 'tis whispered, now begins complain 

That some one is forsworn. 
Thus say the priests, and thus my verse again : 

AH verses serve your turn. 



55. Pale as a silver vase at banquet laid, 

Filled from a gelid fount. 
Imagine, reader, the dew which the icy water casts over the polished 
surface and deadens its lustre. Is it not a sweet image of paleness ': 
57. Would to your asking you could have a sight, 

And knew your bride's defeat. 
I wish that as you ask you could have a sight of me and know to what 
state I am reduced. 
59. Tfie god. The oracle, or the priest of the oracle. 
All verses serve your turn. As it seems from that which you composed 
and that which I now write. 

K 



218 CYDIPPE TO ACONTIUS, 

60. 

Whence this advantage ? haply your new style, 

On gods imposing bands. 
It binds the gods, I follow them the while, 

And here hold out my hands. 

61. 

To mother is confessed the compact wrought. 
With downcast eve 'twas told. 

The rest your care. 'Twas more than virgin ought 
A stealthy pen to hold. 

62. 

My fingers now, in a sad weary plight, 

Refuse their work to do. 
What else ? with you I 'm willing to unite, 

And wish you well. Adieu ! 



60. On gods imposing bands. Imposing on Diana the obligation of 
favouring your interest. 

61. The compact wrought. The engagement which I now make 
with you. 



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